XR COLOMBIA & NETHERLANDS 2020

1. Does VR improve learning of AI
concepts?
Marie Postma
Department of Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence
Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences
Tilburg University, The Netherlands

2. Explaining AI in Virtual Reality
• Many mathematical and computational concepts
are difficult for bachelor students to grasp
intuitively (Suyatna, et al., 2017; Arwanto, et al.,
2019)
• Difficulty often has to do with low spatial abilities
and with motivation to learn - can be achieved
through technology-mediated learning
• VR offers the possibility to present concepts in 3D
Jan Amos Comenius

3. Overview
• Principal Component Analysis VR environment (joint work with
Jarno Smit and Reinier Zwart)
• Convolutional Neural Nets (joint work with Niels Ijpelaar and
Andras Adam)

4. Principal Component Analysis in VR
• PCA is a popular technique in behavioral research and in machine
learning;
• In order to develop an intuition for PCA, students need to be able to
perform mental rotations of data points in 3D space and extrapolate to
multidimensional spaces;
• We developed a dynamic VR application in Unity 2018.3.2 that included
limited interaction, explanations of basic concepts, rotations of data
points, and an explicit presentation of dimensionality reduction in space;
• 40 Dutch bachelor students without prior knowledge of PCA participated
in the VR experience, their performance on a subsequent test compared
to 40 matched students who received pen & paper explanation.

5. Principal Component Analysis in VR
• Regression analysis with
Condition, Engagement, and
Spatial Ability as predictors and
learning outcomes as
dependent variable
• Engagement a significant
predictor
• Participants in the VR condition
reported higher Engagement
than participants in the pen &
paper condition

6. Convolutional Neural Nets in VR
• 3 studies explaining the concept of
convolution in a VR environment
(N=120 in total)
• Effects of gamification (Study 2) and
digital storytelling (Study 3)
• Results showed that GVR had a
positive effect on overall Presence
during learning and led to improved
learning outcomes on questions
testing process understanding; digital
storytelling did not improve outcomes

7. Conclusion
• Developing educational applications in VR is a looot of work!
• Quality of the visuals
• Gamification elements
• Basic narrative and digital storytelling
• The results (in our studies) do not demonstrate that this work
necessarily pays of when looking at learning outcomes
• However, indirect effect through Engagement/Presence observed

8. THANK YOU!