Week 5 - Augmented Reality and Creativity

What is augmented reality? Less commonly known then its cousin virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) is technology which allows us to see the real world with digital augmentation overlaid on it. Although less commonly known, some uses of AR are much more known, such as Snapchat lenses or the mobile game Pokémon GO. The existence of AR in educational settings is not very prevalent at the time of writing, however, there are a range of technologies available which may allow for creative expression in the classroom. The EDUC3620 Tutorial allowed us to investigate a range of these technologies and think of possible uses for them.

Spacecraft AR (Spacecraft AR – NASA Mars Exploration) is an application which allows you to see models of spacecrafts used by NASA, and allowed for movement, rotation and scaling of the model (Figure 1). I believe the most creative programs for programs like this is in presentations. Such an example would be a space presentation in which other students could walk around and see the traits, or functions mentioned by the presenter. This would make the presentation significantly more enjoyable and interactive and expand the capabilities of the presenter (Jelemenska et al, 2011).

Figure 1. The Voyager, as seen through Spacecraft AR

Merge Cube's (Merge Cube | AR/VR Learning & Creation (mergeedu.com)) are objects, connected to viewing apps which allows the physical movement of an augmented object. The application is able to accurately cast an image onto the cube and maintain its position with size and rotation relative to the real world. Similar to Spacecraft AR, I believe that this program would excel in creative presentations. Tasks could be designed where students are required to create panorama environments which fit the images cast. This could be an island with a volcano (Figure 2.) or a solar system scene with a focus on the earth (Figure 3.). By creating these scenes, they will be inherently creative and will be able to expand upon their design thinking.

Figure 2. Volcano, as seen through Merge Cube

Figure 3. The Earth, as seen through Merge Cube

The final program we used in the tutorial was ZapWorks (ZapWorks: The Most Powerful All-In-One WebAR platform), which we used to create a scannable image which would portray three dimensional assets on the screen. This program was incredibly intuitive to use, which when placed in a educational setting will help prevent creative restrictions, particularly with the flow of a lesson. The only difficulties students may face is with the requirement to use photoshop, or a similar photo editing software to impose a QR code onto the image. Our creations, although rather similar required us to use a range of assets and tools (shown in Figures 4., Figure 5., Figure 6., and Figure 7.), and by having access to a large number of options students will be able to express their ideas clearly. Creative uses of ZapWorks could include the creation of an image which will highlight different plants and animals in the area shown, after which this could be handed in alone, or used as a student-teacher task, where they explain their creations, an example of this is shown in my creation (Figure 8.). By allowing the students to create the explorable environments they will be able to express creative ideas that are relatable to other students, in turn both expanding the presenter, and the participant's knowledge.

Figure 4. ZapWorks, creating a new project

Figure 5. ZapWorks, choosing a photo to use as base

Figure 6. ZapWorks, imposing QR code to image using Photoshop

Figure 7. ZapWorks, adding assets to the image in the ZapWorks editor

Figure 8. ZapWorks, scannable image for AR

---

References:

Jelemenská, K., Čičák, P., Dúcky, V. (2011). Interactive presentation towards students' engagement. Procedia, Social and Behavioral Sciences, 29, 1645-1653. Interactive presentation towards students’ engagement - Macquarie University (mq.edu.au)