When we talk about virtual reality, most people think about its advancement in the gaming industry. But now Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) is being introduced in other sectors as well. A great example is the use of VR in the medical sector: the application of this latest technology has entered the field of healthcare and can bring great difference and be of great help both in training and in the practice of medical activities.
In fact, the medical sector is one of the main fields of action of Virtual Reality. There are so many applications to help both doctors and patients. The advantages of Virtual Reality are now applied in surgeries, in patients with disorders and phobias, in the treatment of diseases and especially in medical training.Frequently, people have such disorders as: tachycardia, panic attacks, antisocial behavior, anxiety, as well as psychological trauma after violence, traffic accidents, etc. Using VR / AR applications, patients receive a course of rehabilitation therapy.
In the coming years, advanced technologies like mixed reality, artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain and virtual assistants could play a bigger role at colleges and universities, according to a new report from Educause, a nonprofit focused on IT’s role in higher ed.
The 2019 Horizon Report, based on a panel of higher ed experts, zeroes in on trends, challenges and developments in educational technology. Challenges range from the “solvable,” such as improving digital fluency and increasing demand for digital learning experiences, to the “wicked.” The latter includes rethinking teaching and advancing digital equity.
The panel contemplated blockchain’s use in higher ed for the first time in the 2019 report. Specifically, the authors looked at its potential for creating alternative forms of academic records that “could follow students from one institution to another, serving as verifiable evidence of learning and enabling simpler transfer of credits across institutions.”
Sharing your model in The Wild enables you to cohabitate the space with your collaborators. Anyone with access can join using their own virtual reality headset and explore the space with you, whether they’re located in the same building or across the world.
AR is the go-to engagement method of choice when it comes to product and category exploration. A label on a product on a shelf can only do so much to convey product and brand information, vs. AR, which can easily tap into a wealth of digital information online and bring it to life as an overlay on a product or on the label itself.
From DSC: Applying this concept to the academic world…what might this mean for a student in a chemistry class who has a mobile device and/or a pair of smart goggles on and is working with an Erlenmeyer flask? A burette? A Bunsen burner?
Along these lines...what if all of those confused students — like *I* was struggling through chem lab — could see how an experiment was *supposed to be done!?*
That is, if there’s only 30 minutes of lab time left, the professor or TA could “flip a switch” to turn on the AR cloud within the laboratory space to allow those struggling students to see how to do their experiment.
I can’t tell you how many times I was just trying to get through the lab — not knowing what I was doing, and getting zero help from any professor or TA. I hardly learned a thing that stuck with me…except the names of a few devices and the abbreviations of a few chemicals. For the most part, it was a waste of money. How many students experience this as well and feel like I did?
Will the terms “blended learning” and/or “hybrid learning” take on whole new dimensions with the onset of AR, MR, and VR-related learning experiences?
“It is conceivable that we’re going to be moving into a world without screens, a world where [glasses are] your screen. You don’t need any more form factor than [that].”
A luminous igloo-shaped structure in the front room of the Cambridge Public Library beckoned curious library visitors during the snowy first weekend of March, inviting them to explore a space engineered for everyone, yet uniquely their own.
Called “Alterspace” and developed by Harvard’s metaLAB and Library Innovation Lab, this experiment in adaptive architecture granted the individual control over the sensory elements in his or her space. A user enters the LED-illuminated dome to find headphones, chairs and an iPad on a library cart, which displays six modes: Relax, Read, Meditate, Focus, Create and W3!Rd.
From the cool blues and greens of Relax mode to a rainbow overload of excitement in the W3!Rd mode, Alterspace is engineered to transform its lights, sounds and colors into the ideal environment for a particular action.
From DSC: This brings me back to the question/reflection…in the future, will students using VR headsets be able to study by a brook? An ocean? In a very quiet library (i.e., the headset would come with solid noise cancellation capabilities build into it)? This type of room/capability would really be helpful for our daughter…who is easily distracted and doesn’t like noise.
Artificial intelligence conversational interfaces. Gartner defines these as “a subset of conversational user interfaces (CUIs), in which user and machine interactions occur in the user’s spoken or written natural language.” The benefit for higher ed insitutions: “CUIs place responsibility on the machine interface to learn what the user wants, rather than the user having to learn the software, saving user time, increasing student satisfaction, and being available to use 24/7.”
Smart campus. This is “a physical or digital environment in which humans and technology-enabled systems interact to create more immersive and automated experiences for university stakeholders.” While smart campus initiatives are still in the early stages, there has been a rising interest across higher ed institutions, according to Gartner. “The smart campus will drive growth in markets like robotic process automation solutions and augmented and virtual reality in the higher education space. Campus efficiency will be enhanced and student learning will be enriched with the new capabilities they bring. It’s a win all-around, except for the data security implications that come with most technology initiatives today,” said Morgan.
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Digital credentialing technologies. “Students, faculty and the higher education institutions they are a part of are starting to expect the ability to quickly and freely exchange credentials to enhance the verification and recruitment process,” noted Gartner. Technologies such as blockchain and data encryption are driving change in this area. “In many ways, credentials issued by an education institution are the only tangible evidence of higher education. They should be considered the currency of the education ecosystem,” said Morgan. “These technologies really enable universities to leverage technology to improve the student experience by giving them more control over their information. The only hurdle is a general lack of understanding of digital credentialing technologies and risk-averseness in the high-stakes nature of the higher education market.”
But what if there was a way to visualize huge data sets that instantly revealed important trends and patterns? What if you could interact with the data, move it around, literally walk around it? That’s one of the lesser talked about promises of mixed reality. If developers can deliver on the promise, it just may be one of the most important enterprise applications of those emerging technologies, as well.
It’s officially been one year since we started exploring immersive virtual learning with nursing students, starting with the Embodied Labs product:Becoming Alfred. The virtual product consists of an immersive simulated experience using virtual reality (VR) designed by Embodied Labs. Embodied Labs has three scenario series, referred to as labs:
The Alfred Lab: Learners experience life as Alfred, a 74-year old African American male with macular degeneration and hearing loss.
The Beatriz Lab: A Journey Through Alzheimer’s Disease. The learner becomes, Beatriz, a middle-late aged Latina woman who transitions from early to middle to late stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
The Clay Lab: End of Life Conversations. Learners become Clay, a 66-year old male, with a terminal diagnosis whose experiences include receiving a terminal diagnosis, hospice care at home, and the active dying process at the end-of-life.
From DSC: I moderated a panel back at the NGLS Conference in 2017, and Carrie was one of the panelists talking about some of the promising applications of virtual reality. Carrie is doing marvelous work! Carrie’s mom had Alzheimer’s and my mom has that as well (as did my grandmother). It’s a tough disease to watch develop. Perhaps a student reading this out there will be the person to find a solution to this enormous issue.
Higher education is on the cusp of major changes. Enrollments are on the decline—both online and on campus—and the trend is expected to accelerate.[1] Graduates are laboring under substantial college loan debts totaling more than $1.5 trillion.[2] Employers are demanding that applicants possess soft and hard skills that many college graduates do not hold.[3] At the same time new and emerging technologies are changing the way credentials are shared and work is done.
It is in this context that continuing, professional and online programs have been imported from the periphery to the center of traditional universities. Students and employers alike have made clear that their top priority is relevance to the rapidly changing workplace. Artificial intelligence, blockchain, augmented/virtual reality and other technologies are driving the changes. Professional and Continuing Education (PCE) has long been the leader in providing relevant courses, certificates and degrees that connect students with the needs of employers.
…the Online Master’s Science in Computer Science degree at Georgia Tech is now the largest computer science program in the world. And the degree costs less than $9,000.
Also see:
Interview with Hunt Lambert – What is the 60-year curriculum?
Colleges and universities used to be primarily responsible for a four-year learning experience. We now need to envision a 60-year curriculum, whereby educational institutions partner with learners at all stages of their professional career, providing skills and knowledge as needed.
From DSC: In a next generation learning system, it would be sharp/beneficial to have a Netflix-like interface to check out potential functionalities that you could turn on and off (at will) — as one component of your learning ecosystem that could feature a setup located in your living room or office.
For example, put a Netflix-like interface to the apps out ateduappcenter.com (i.e., using a rolling interface at first, then going to a static page/listing of apps…again…similar to Netflix).
What is 5G? 5G networks are the next generation of mobile internet connectivity, offering faster speeds and more reliable connections on smartphones and other devices than ever before.
Combining cutting-edge network technology and the very latest research, 5G should offer connections that are multitudes faster than current connections, with average download speeds of around 1GBps expected to soon be the norm.
The networks will help power a huge rise in Internet of Things technology, providing the infrastructure needed to carry huge amounts of data, allowing for a smarter and more connected world.
With development well underway, 5G networks are expected to launch across the world by 2020, working alongside existing 3G and 4G technology to provide speedier connections that stay online no matter where you are.
So with only a matter of months to go until 5G networks are set to go live, here’s our run-down of all the latest news and updates.
From DSC: I wonder…
What will Human Computer Interaction (HCI) look like when ~1GBps average download speeds are the norm?
What will the Internet of Things (IoT) turn into (for better or for worse)?
How will Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Communications be impacted?
What will that kind of bandwidth mean for XR-related technologies (AR VR MR)?
Careers that used to safely dodge the high-tech bullet will soon require at least a basic grasp of things like web design, computer programming and robotics – presenting a new challenge for colleges and universities
A projected 85 percent of the jobs that today’s college students will have in 2030 haven’t been invented yet
The coming high-tech changes are expected to touch a wider variety of career paths than ever before
Many experts say American universities aren’t ready for the change because the high-tech skills most workers will need are currently focused just on people specializing in science, technology, engineering and math
OpenSight specifically utilizes the Microsoft HoloLens headset that allows simultaneous visualization of the 3D patient images in AR and the actual patient and their real-world surroundings. The technique may decrease operative times and improve surgical planning and the understanding of anatomic relationships.
“Kids love to engage with [VR] lessons,” said Guido Kovalskys, chief executive and co-founder of US-based edtech company Nearpod. “One minute, they are learning about Roman history, and the next, they are transported to ancient Rome and are exploring the Colosseum.”
From DSC: Ok, so the title is on the overhyped side, but I do think XR will positively impact learning, understanding.
VR & AR 2018: A year in review— from vrscout.com by Kyle Melnick Excerpt:
If 2016 was the birth of modern VR/AR technology, than 2018 was its elementary school graduation. While this past year may have seemed like a quiet one when compared to the more exciting releases featured in 2017 and 2016, these past 12 months have been crucial in the development of the immersive entertainment sector.
Major hardware releases, vast improvements to software, and various other integral advancements have quietly solidified VR & AR as viable, long-term technological platforms for years to come. So while there may not have been any bombshell announcements or jaw-dropping reveals per sey, 2018 will still go down as a key, if not climactic, year for VR & AR technology regardless.
With a new year full of exciting possibilities ahead of us, let’s hang back a second and take a look back at 2018’s most pivotal moments.
Kalamazoo, Michigan
University: Western Michigan University
There’s plenty to do in Kalamazoo, such as visits to Bell’s Brewery, the Kalamazoo Air Zoo, the Gilmore Car Museum and the W.K. Kellogg Bird Sanctuary. The city of some 75,000 is also home to four campuses of Western Michigan University. Budget-wise, Kalamazoo is easy on retiree pocketbooks; GoBankingRates found that Michigan residents pay 10.3 percent less, on average, for common living expenses than other Americans.
KALAMAZOO, Mich.—Travel the world for history class and actually see the culture. Practice surgery or accurately design a 3D car.
Western Michigan University offers significant opportunities in the areas of teaching, learning and research at one of the largest virtual reality laboratories at an institution of higher education.
The VR Lab at WMU Libraries was started to explore this revolutionary technology as a collaborative effort of the Office of Information Technology and Waldo Library. Opening the door to broad collaborative possibilities and feeding the curiosities of varied audiences, users have experienced both the entertainment and educational side of VR content in the lab’s first year.
“Libraries are in a huge state of change with technology,” says Lou Ann Morgan, senior marketing specialist for University Libraries.
Indeed, if you haven’t yet heard of the “AR Cloud”, it’s time to take serious notice. The term was coined by Ori Inbar, an AR entrepreneur and investor who founded AWE. It is, in his words, “a persistent 3D digital copy of the real world to enable sharing of AR experiences across multiple users and devices.”
“It’s not about how virtual reality functions. It’s about, ‘How does history function in virtual reality? How does biology function in virtual reality? How does psychology function with these new tools?’” he said.
The school hopes to prepare student for careers in a field with a market size projected to grow to $209.2 billion by 2022, according to Statista. Still at its advent, Whelan compared VR technology to the introduction of the personal computer.
From DSC: But even in that posting the message is mixed…some pros…some cons. Some things going well for XR-related techs…but for other things, things are not going very well.
…but on the other hand,
some things don’t look so good…
Four years later, things are starting to look decidedly bleak. Yes, there are about 5 million Gear VR units and 3 million Sony Playstation VR headsets in market, plus probably a few hundred thousand higher-end Oculus and HTC Vive systems. Yes, VR is still being demonstrated at countless conferences and events, and big corporations that want to seem innovative love to invest in a VR app or two. Yes, Facebook just cracked an important low-end price point with its $200 Oculus Go headset, theoretically making VR affordable for mainstream consumers. Plus, there’s even more hype about Augmented Reality, which in a way could be a gateway drug to VR.
But it’s hard to ignore a growing feeling that VR is not developing as the industry hoped it would. So is that it again, we’ve seen this movie before, let’s all wrap it up and wait for the next wave of VR to come along about five years from now?
There are a few signs that are really worrying…
From DSC:
My take is that it’s too early to tell. We need to give things more time.
