Forum Discussion
What is the "Optimal" Virtual Reality Experience/Future
I've been dancing around this question a bit in my VR musings and at this point, I think just plain old getting a discussion on the matter would be of some value. To start, I posit the question: "How ...
I'll chime in here regarding the educational realm of VR and what many, myself included, are researching:
Creating virtual field trips is the obvious direction VR will go: recreate the Apollo Landing, witness the battle of Bunker Hill, and even explore the human circulatory system are scenarios that many educators are hoping to use VR to recreate, much like the Hololibrary. With today's tools, this will be pretty common.
What's even cooler is the possibility for collaborative problem solving in VR. Portal 2 is a great example of how two students can wear HMDs and work together to solve unique problems. This will have astounding effects of team development and leadership skills especially since students can create problem scenarios for each other to solve.
However, the UI as you all stated, is rather limited without haptic feedback. Many educational types of experiences will likely have very little interaction. I've been experimenting with the Leap Motion controller, and have found that it's biggest drawback, besides inaccurate finger tracking, is that many users get really tired, really fast. Holding your arm up to interact within educational explorations that take a few minutes, gets exhausting. We realized that we needed to give users time to rest, so we've had to limit the interactions to simple "point here" and "move there" gestures that only take a few seconds. The whole UX is in dire need of reinvention, because how a student interacts and engages with the material greatly contributes to how they learn; passive learning doesn't work. Joshua Kim made an astute point in his article Avoiding Oculus VR Education Fantasies, realizing that:
"Education requires a personal relationship between educators and learners. Education requires that the learner produce, not simply consume or experience."
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/avoiding-oculus-vr-education-fantasies#sthash.BxvmXuEI.dpbs
Without a teacher like figure, education tends to move at a slower pace, and that's where things get really interesting...
We have been researching Intelligent Tutoring Systems with Virtual Human Tutors that students can converse with. Virtual Tutors have shown some real progress as supplemental experiences to in-class education as they guide students through science explorations with animations and interactive simulations, all through conversational dialogs. Through dialog, the tutor can produce questions that challenge your understanding of the presented concepts, assess your verbal response and then respond accordingly by presenting further materials. Despite their 2D interaction, one of the most surprising outcomes was that young students have expressed a developing relationship with the tutors that helped motivate them to learn more. So with VR, we are hoping to see significant gains on students developing stronger bonds with Virtual Humans and furthering the educational experience because a student can have a sense of presence as they sit next to, or walk beside, their tutor.
At least, that's one direction we;re headed.
Creating virtual field trips is the obvious direction VR will go: recreate the Apollo Landing, witness the battle of Bunker Hill, and even explore the human circulatory system are scenarios that many educators are hoping to use VR to recreate, much like the Hololibrary. With today's tools, this will be pretty common.
What's even cooler is the possibility for collaborative problem solving in VR. Portal 2 is a great example of how two students can wear HMDs and work together to solve unique problems. This will have astounding effects of team development and leadership skills especially since students can create problem scenarios for each other to solve.
However, the UI as you all stated, is rather limited without haptic feedback. Many educational types of experiences will likely have very little interaction. I've been experimenting with the Leap Motion controller, and have found that it's biggest drawback, besides inaccurate finger tracking, is that many users get really tired, really fast. Holding your arm up to interact within educational explorations that take a few minutes, gets exhausting. We realized that we needed to give users time to rest, so we've had to limit the interactions to simple "point here" and "move there" gestures that only take a few seconds. The whole UX is in dire need of reinvention, because how a student interacts and engages with the material greatly contributes to how they learn; passive learning doesn't work. Joshua Kim made an astute point in his article Avoiding Oculus VR Education Fantasies, realizing that:
"Education requires a personal relationship between educators and learners. Education requires that the learner produce, not simply consume or experience."
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/avoiding-oculus-vr-education-fantasies#sthash.BxvmXuEI.dpbs
Without a teacher like figure, education tends to move at a slower pace, and that's where things get really interesting...
We have been researching Intelligent Tutoring Systems with Virtual Human Tutors that students can converse with. Virtual Tutors have shown some real progress as supplemental experiences to in-class education as they guide students through science explorations with animations and interactive simulations, all through conversational dialogs. Through dialog, the tutor can produce questions that challenge your understanding of the presented concepts, assess your verbal response and then respond accordingly by presenting further materials. Despite their 2D interaction, one of the most surprising outcomes was that young students have expressed a developing relationship with the tutors that helped motivate them to learn more. So with VR, we are hoping to see significant gains on students developing stronger bonds with Virtual Humans and furthering the educational experience because a student can have a sense of presence as they sit next to, or walk beside, their tutor.
At least, that's one direction we;re headed.