Authoring and Living Next-Generation Location-Based Experiences

Authoring location-based experiences involving multiple participants, collaborating or competing in both indoor and outdoor mixed realities, is extremely complex and bound to serious technical challenges. In this work, we present the first results of the MAGELLAN European project and how these greatly simplify this creative process using novel authoring, augmented reality (AR) and indoor geolocalisation techniques

Augmented reality mobile app development for all

Lack of programming skills is a barrier to the engagement of teachers in the development and customisation of their own applications. Visual Environment for Designing Interactive Learning Scenarios (VEDILS), a visual tool for designing, customising and deploying learning technologies, provides teachers with a development environment with a low entry threshold. Current mobile devices are equipped with sensors and have sufficient processing power to use augmented reality technologies. Despite the heavy use of mobile devices in students’ lives, the use of augmented reality mobile applications as learning tools is not widespread among teachers. The current work presents a framework comprising the development tool and a method for designing and deploying learning activities. It focuses on the augmented reality components of the authoring tools, which allow users to create their own mobile augmented reality learning apps. It also present the results of the evaluation of the framework with 47 third-level educators, and two case studies of classroom implementations of mobile augmented reality apps developed by these educators. The results illustrate the suitability of the framework and authoring tool for supporting users without programming skills in developing their own apps

Keep it simple : Lowering the Barrier for Authoring Serious Games

Background. Despite the continuous and abundant growth of the game market the uptake of serious games in education has been limited. Games require complex technologies and are difficult to organise and to embed in the curriculum. Aim. This article explores to what extent game templates and game authoring processes can be designed that can be easily adopted and adapted by teachers while only using openly available tools. Method. It discusses the design and first evaluation of two game platforms: ARGUMENT, based on a wiki, and ARLEARN, a toolkit based on openly available Google technologies. ARGUMENT is a text-based game challenging students to take a position on a given topic. ARLEARN offers an explicit mobile and virtual gameplay environment and a defined authoring process to create game scripts. Results. ARGUMENT and ARLEARN have been evaluated in four small-scale studies, where educators designed game scenarios and students played the resulting games. Conclusions. The results indicate that both tools are useful instruments that can be operated by teachers to build games and game-alike educational activities and, additionally, are a valuable step to gain experience with serious games.SURFnet/Kennisnet (ARGUMENT, StreetLearn, ARLearn), UNHC

Smart glasses for 3D multimodal composition

Extended reality technologies – mixed, augmented, and virtual reality, and future-related technologies – are rapidly expanding in many fields, with underexplored potentials for multimodal composition in digital media environments. This research generates new knowledge about the novel wearable technology – smart glasses – to support elementary students’ multimodal story authoring with 3D virtual objects or holograms. The researchers and teachers implemented learning experiences with upper elementary students from three classrooms to compose and illustrate written narratives before retelling the story with Microsoft HoloLens 2 smart glasses, selecting 3D holograms to illustrate the settings, characters, and events from the 3D Viewer software. The findings analyse how smart glasses supported students’ multimodal composition, and relatedly, the new modal resources available to students wearing smart glasses to compose 3D stories. The findings have significance for educators and researchers to understand and utilise the multimodal affordances of augmented and mixed reality environments for composing and storytelling

A novel authoring tool for augmented books

Augmented Reality (AR) has been studied from di erent application elds since the early 60s. Different research works in the educational field have been recently conducted, particularly based on a versatile AR application called Augmented Book. This paper focuses on a novel authoring tool for this kind of books. Our approach allows the possibility of adding virtual contents to any existing printed book. The application was implemented following a framework-based approach, making easy to extend with new features. Informal evaluations and observations by academics of different elds were conducted obtaining promising results.XII Workshop de Tecnología Informática Aplicada en EducaciónRed de Universidades con Carreras de Informática (RedUNCI

ARLearn: augmented reality meets augmented virtuality

Ternier, S., Klemke, R., Kalz, M., Van Ulzen, P., & Specht, M. (2012). ARLearn: augmented reality meets augmented virtuality [Special issue]. Journal of Universal Computer Science - Technology for learning across physical and virtual spaces, 18(15), 2143-2164.This article deals with educational opportunities for mixed reality games and related scenarios for learning. It discusses several issues and educational challenges to be tackled when linking augmented reality and augmented virtuality. Second, the paper describes the architecture of the ARLearn system which offers highly flexible support for different educational settings. Three prototypical use cases implemented based on the underlying ARLearn framework are discussed, which are a field trip system, an augmented Google StreetView client called StreetLearn, and a real time crisis intervention game. ARLearn combines real time notification and mixed reality games across Mobile Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality and the authors aim to use the underlying (open source) framework for further case studies and mixed reality applications for learning support

The Chawton House Experience - Augmenting the Grounds of a Historic Manor House

Museum research is a burgeoning area of research where ubiquitous computing has already made an impact in enhancing user experiences. The goal of the Chawton House project is to extend this work by introducing ubicomp not to a museum as such, but a historic English manor house and its grounds. This presents a number of novel challenges relating to the kinds of visitors, the nature of visits, the specific character of the estate, the creation of a persistent and evolving system, and the process of developing it together with Chawton House staff