TEACHING WHEN TECHNOLOGY HACKS REALITY
Middlebury College -
Ground rules for today
• Please ask questions. We forbid
embarrassment.
• We are assuming a baseline
awareness of being new to
VR/AR/MR.
• Please contribute thoughts. This
is a rapidly developing field!
VR: introduction
Virtual reality (VR) typically
refers to computer
technologies that use software
to generate realistic images,
sounds and other sensations
that replicate a real
environment (or create an
imaginary setting), and
simulate a user's physical
presence in this environment.
VR: historical sketch
http://kotaku.com/the-man-whos-keeping-1990s-virtual-reality-machines-ali-1778990894
VR tech now
VR tech now
VR tech now
VR tech now
• VR files or apps
• High end headsets
• Low-end Cardboard
• Interaction tools
• Gestures
• Capture devices: scanners,
cameras
Augmented reality
Augmented reality
[A] live direct or indirect view of a
physical, real-world environment
whose elements are augmented (or
supplemented) by computer-
generated sensory input such as
sound, video, graphics or GPS data.
Augmented reality
A spectrum:
•QR codes
•Location-targeted
services (Google
Maps, Yelp)
•Superimposed
visuals
Augmented reality
http://www.instantreality.org/itacitus/
Augmented reality
Gaming
• Pokemon Go, Ingress, Zombies Run!
https://www.wired.com/2011/09/augmented-reality-zombies-run-augmented-audio/
VR+AR=MR
VR+AR=MR
Mixed reality (MR), sometimes referred to as
hybrid reality, is the merging of real and
virtual worlds to produce new environments
and visualizations where physical and digital
objects co-exist and interact in real time.
Mixed reality takes place not only in the
physical world or the virtual world, but is a
mix of reality and virtual reality,
encompassing both augmented reality and
augmented virtuality.
More MR
Hololens
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihKUoZxNClA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aThCr0Psyu
Magic Leap
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw0-JRa9n9
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPMHcanq0x
VR/AR/MR futures
• 3d cinema or the next Web
• Headset->eyewear->contacts?
• Real-time translation
• Vanishing keyboards
• AR public art
Pedagogies
Visualization
•VR: hard to access content
•“ “ visualize “
•Creative work
•Safe mistake zone
•Empathy
Pedagogies
https://www.google.com/edu/expeditions/
Pedagogies
Dalgarno Lee 2010
Pedagogies
• Spatial awareness
• Difficult learning tasks
• Motivation and delight
-Dalgarno and Lee 2010
Pedagogies
Visualization
•AR: setting awareness
•Animating textbooks
(http://www.hitl.washington.ed
u/projects/scripps/)
•Students making
Augmented reality
http://www.instantreality.org/itacitus/
Pedagogies
Gaming
•Community-based
•Location- “
•Creative
Pedagogies
MR?
•Mixture of these
•Office work
Pedagogies
MR?
•Mixture of these
•Office work
Pedagogies
Storytelling
•Setting
•Viewpoint centrality
•Power of sound
Socialization
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hagengraf/30508143692/
Pedagogies
Socialization
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ha
gengraf/30508143692/
https://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=MqAGl2JmH4I
https://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=YuIgyKLPt3s
Research
Support issues
Consuming
•Discovery – discipline;
publishers
•Access to hardware – equity,
spaces
•Accessibility
Support issues
Producing
•Huge computation challenge
•Work with staff
• Digital Liberal Arts Initiative
•Connect w/maker movement
•Hype cycle potential
VR/AR/MR futures
• 3d cinema or the next Web
• Headset->eyewear->contacts?
• Real-time translation
• Vanishing keyboards
• AR public art
http://bryanalexander.org
bryan.alexander@gmail.com
http://twitter.com/bryanalexander

Teaching when technology hacks reality: VR, AR, MR.edu