If you’re familiar with Assassin’s Creed 2016 movie adaptation of the same name by Ubisoft Studios, you must have been thoroughly impressed by the Animus. The Animus is the machine which allows subjects to relive any memories stored in their genetic codes, including those of their ancestors. The machine, like a virtual 3D game room, also allows scientists to observe those memories as if the events were just taking place.
It’s a pretty cool concept, even if we are still eons away from such a technology, or even if the concept of ancestral DNA memory sequencing seems a little bit far-fetched. However, some pretty cool technologies have been developed or are currently in development, and these will revolutionize how we interact with virtual reality. Every facet of society can benefit immensely from new immersive technologies.
One of the major areas that immersive technologies can deeply affect is education and learning. Let’s check out 6 current technologies that have the potential to revolutionize how learners perceive things.
Video Games
There will always be an ongoing and raging debate about how the cons of gaming outweigh its positive impacts. From incidences of gaming-inspired violence, addictive and obsessive-compulsive disorders in young teens, to diminished learner productivity, there can be no doubt about the negative potential of gaming. But the benefits far outweigh the cons.
Gaming in learning isn’t a new concept. Since the 1970s, neuroscientists have been conducting behavioral brain research, testing cognitive, functional, balance, and decision-making abilities in subjects. Research also suggests that the hippocampal area of the brain is faster stimulated in learners who game, meaning that they are more adaptive to learning than regular students.
With the world slowly leaning towards acceptance of gaming as a learning tool, expect game developers to start creating more learning-based video games, increased subscriptions to gaming providers from educational institutions, and an overall improvement of learner abilities.
Virtual Reality
VR is not only one of the most fun ways to deliver educational content; it is probably the most engaging. As Callum in ‘Assassin’s Creed’ can relive moments hundreds of years before in the seemingly realistic VR Animus machine, that energy can be channeled towards premiering learning concepts where actual field visitation would be impractical or impossible.
A great example of this in practice is Unimersiv providing immersive VR experiences of sites like the Lincoln Memorial, ancient Rome’s majestic buildings to architecture students, to the Curiosity Rover, making its way around the Martian planet. Even specialized educational functions such as surgery can be taught excellently through VR.
While still exclusive concerning the cost, there is no doubt that at the proper time, the economies of scale will cause the price of VR headsets and general technology to come down gradually, similar to the exponential drop in the exclusivity of mobile phones from when they were unveiled for public purchase.
Google Classroom And Other Virtual Classrooms
Recent global developments have exposed the weaknesses of the current social systems when a crisis such as a pandemic hit. Social systems such as school campuses and transport systems shut down, and activities such as learning all but grind to a halt.
Virtual classrooms are starting to gain traction, especially in 2020, and Google Classroom is one of the best online platforms for collaborative, integrated, learning management. You may have been stuck with an assignment, thinking how to buy essay, edit and proofread it, and then print it out.
All this takes so much time and wastes paper, but with Google Classroom, everything is paperless. You’d simply proofread the paper on your device, change it to the appropriate format, and upload it quickly, saving a good amount of time.
Holographic Technology
Holographic technology makes use of motion sensors, digital graphics processors, and lasers to create a stunningly realistic and immersive impression, usually on a pixelated surface. Researchers atAerial Burtonhave gone further to create a laser hologram that is tangible to the touch through creating plasma in the air, without the need of a surface for impression.
Other forms of holography include digital tabletops, light field tech, and 3D volumetric holograms, the latter of which would be extremely useful in specialized engineering solutions.
The technology and costs involved in holography may still be beyond reach, even for many research institutions, let alone academia. However, with increased research, processors, and computing power, it’s only a matter of time before such technology starts making its way to classrooms.
Mobile Apps
Mobile applications have now become ubiquitous. Everybody with a smart device uses an app for one thing or the other. With their low price and availability, even in the most remote parts of the world, mobile apps through smart devices present the best opportunity to shift pedagogical approaches and increase access to learning.
