Serious Games in Science Education. A Systematic Literature Review

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New Trends in Using Augmented Reality Apps for Smart City Contexts

The idea of virtuality is not new, as research on visualization and simulation dates back to the early use of ink and paper sketches for alternative design comparisons. As technology has advanced so the way of visualizing simulations as well, but the progress is slow due to difficulties in creating workable simulations models and effectively providing them to the users. Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, the evolving technologies that have been haunting the tech industry, receiving excessive attention from the media and colossal growing are redefining the way we interact, communicate and work together. From consumer application to manufacturers these technologies are used in different sectors providing huge benefits through several applications. In this work, we demonstrate the potentials of Augmented Reality techniques in a Smart City (Smart Campus) context. A multiplatform mobile app featuring Augmented Reality capabilities connected to GIS services are developed to evaluate different features such as performance, usability, effectiveness and satisfaction of the Augmented Reality technology in the context of a Smart Campus

The Power of Immersive Media: Enhancing Empathy through Virtual Reality Experiences

This research paper explores the transformative potential of immersive media, specifically virtual reality (VR), in enhancing empathy among users. Empathy is vital in fostering understanding, compassion, and social cohesion. Immersive media, with its ability to transport individuals into simulated environments and perspectives, offers unique opportunities to bridge the empathy gap. This paper examines how VR can boost empathy, including perspective-taking, emotional connection, experiential learning, breaking down barriers, and empathy-building simulations. It discusses existing studies and empirical evidence supporting the effectiveness of VR in promoting empathy. The paper acknowledges the ethical considerations and challenges associated with using VR for empathy enhancement, such as avoiding stereotype reinforcement and ensuring inclusive design. By highlighting the potential of immersive media in cultivating empathy, this research paper contributes to the growing field of empathy research and provides insights for the development and application of VR experiences aimed at fostering empathy and understanding in diverse contexts

The role of augmented reality in revitalizing the tourist space of the built heritage via perception

Successive Technological innovations have provided new possibilities for activating tourism in the built heritage sites. Augmented reality (AR) technology is considered is emerging as one of the technologies witnessing great demand from the authorities concerned with the places of built heritage. Therefore, there is a need to study this technology and its potential to improve the perception of the tourist space in order to activate it in tourism where this topic was not covered in previous studies. The aim of the research is to develop a theoretical framework that explains the perceptual aspect of augmented reality and its role in revitalizing the tourist space of the built heritage. The research thus goes to review previous studies on the relationship between built heritage and augmented reality technology, then it presents the basic concepts about revitalizing the tourist space and the perceptual aspects of augmented reality technology, indicators of the conceptual framework are extracted and discussed. The framework represents a tool in enhancing the design and construction of augmented reality models for the built heritage, as well as the possibility of using it to assess the perceptual aspect of these models with the aim of revitalizing the tourist space

The use of virtual world platforms for supporting an emergency response training exercise

The development of a computer-based simulation for emergency response exercise training to facilitate trainees' learning activities and learning outcomes is proposed. Some limitations in using these simulations in emergency services include a focus on small-scaled individual task training and highly controlled environments designed to measure trainees' performance. These problems decrease the realism of the simulation which should represent more diverse, open-ended, counter-intuitive and unpredictable environmental conditions. These problems could reduce learning outcomes brought about by allowing open-ended discussions and team working. Virtual worlds provide a new methodological framework for conducting emergency response exercises. This paper describes a research agenda for the development of a virtual training exercise for emergency response. It has three objectives: firstly, it highlights the issues of validity of exercises for emergency events; secondly, it reviews possible virtual worlds which could be deployed as test bed environments and presents methodologies for their evaluation. Lastly, it suggests a future development of a virtual environment that may be used to support the emergency planning community by considering an existing similar project

Augmented reality for pedestrian evacuation research: Promises and limitations

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Improving the user knowledge and user experience by using Augmented reality in a smart city context

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Geospatial TechnologiesThe idea of Virtuality is not new, as research on visualization and simulation dates back to the early use of ink and paper sketches for alternative design comparisons. As the technology has advanced so the way of visualizing simulations as well, but the progress is slow due to difficulties in creating workable simulations models and effectively providing them to the users (Simpson, 2001). Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR), the evolving technologies that has been haunting the tech industry, receiving excessive attention from the media and growing tremendously are redefining the way we interact, communicate and work together (Shamalinia, 2017). From consumer application to manufacturers these technologies are used in different sectors providing huge benefits through several applications. In this work, we demonstrate the potentials of AR techniques in a smart city context. Initially we present an overview of the state of the art software and technology for AR in different domains of smart cities, and outline considerations from a user study about the effectiveness and user performance of AR technique: real environment with augmented information, everything in the context of a smart city. The evaluation results from the participants show promising results, providing opportunities for improvements and implementation in smart cities