A Perspective Review on Integrating VR/AR with Haptics into STEM Education for Multi-Sensory Learning

As a result of several governments closing educational facilities in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, almost 80% of the world’s students were not in school for several weeks. Schools and universities are thus increasing their efforts to leverage educational resources and provide possibilities for remote learning. A variety of educational programs, platforms, and technologies are now accessible to support student learning; while these tools are important for society, they are primarily concerned with the dissemination of theoretical material. There is a lack of support for hands-on laboratory work and practical experience. This is particularly important for all disciplines related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), where labs and pedagogical assets must be continuously enhanced in order to provide effective study programs. In this study, we describe a unique perspective to achieving multi-sensory learning through the integration of virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) with haptic wearables in STEM education. We address the implications of a novel viewpoint on established pedagogical notions. We want to encourage worldwide efforts to make fully immersive, open, and remote laboratory learning a reality.publishedVersio

A perspective review on integrating VR/AR with haptics into STEM education for multi-sensory learning

As a result of several governments closing educational facilities in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, almost 80% of the world’s students were not in school for several weeks. Schools and universities are thus increasing their efforts to leverage educational resources and provide possibilities for remote learning. A variety of educational programs, platforms, and technologies are now accessible to support student learning; while these tools are important for society, they are primarily concerned with the dissemination of theoretical material. There is a lack of support for hands-on laboratory work and practical experience. This is particularly important for all disciplines related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), where labs and pedagogical assets must be continuously enhanced in order to provide effective study programs. In this study, we describe a unique perspective to achieving multi-sensory learning through the integration of virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) with haptic wearables in STEM education. We address the implications of a novel viewpoint on established pedagogical notions. We want to encourage worldwide efforts to make fully immersive, open, and remote laboratory learning a reality.European Union through the Erasmus+ Program under Grant 2020-1-NO01-KA203-076540, project title Integrating virtual and AUGMENTED reality with WEARable technology into engineering EDUcation (AugmentedWearEdu), https://augmentedwearedu.uia.no/ [34] (accessed on 27 March 2022). This work was also supported by the Top Research Centre Mechatronics (TRCM), University of Agder (UiA), Norwa

Alerts and Notifications for Smart Citizens

Smart cities function on the premises of efficiency and transparency. One of the key requests of smart citizens is to be informed, through modern, digital and personalized means, of issues that might affect them: utility cut-offs, changes in public transportation, exceeding levels of pollutants and so on. In this research, we implement an extension — to an existing smart city notification platform — that consists of a notification and alert module build as a chatbot for Facebook Messenger. We describe the sources of notification data, how we designed the chatbot and current possibilities for users to interact with it and be notified. We also relate on future plans on improving the chatbot

Integrating linked open data in mobile augmented reality applications - a case study

In this paper we develop a model and implement a prototype that integrates user-generated linked open data and open government data in a mobile augmented reality tourism application that works in the browser of the mobile device. We present some challenges met in this endeavour and solutions to overcome them, as well as propose further issues that should be addressed by research in this field

Virtual Reality Authoring Tools for Educators

Virtual reality technologies have been demonstrated to produce encouraging results in the educational process. However, adoption of virtual reality-based instruction among educators has yet to see significant numbers. One of the reasons is the technical difficulty in authoring custom-made VR experiences for students. In this paper, we propose criteria for choosing VR authoring tools that are appropriate for usage in education and apply them to such current platforms. We also present a case study of learning collaboration project that revolved around the usage of VR authoring tools. We conclude with some recommendations regarding additional features that would enhance the exploitation of current VR authoring tools in education

Augmented and Virtual Reality for Public Space Art

Public space art, usually placed outside and accessible to all, is a proper target for the exploitation of transformative and immersive technologies such as augmented and virtual reality. In the recent years, artists and technology developers have collaborated to make physical art more expressivein the digital world, taking advantage of the democratisation of mixed reality devices and software.In this paper, we report on such development of the ArtTM application, an Android app for the publicspace art in Timisoara, Romania. We show the current state of the application and the innovative features that are currently in development. We present the envisioned roadmap to an augmented and virtual reality-enhanced experience and some initial thoughts on the actual implementation of them

End-To-End Computer Vision Framework: An Open-Source Platform for Research and Education

Computer Vision is a cross-research field with the main purpose of understanding the surrounding environment as closely as possible to human perception. The image processing systems is continuously growing and expanding into more complex systems, usually tailored to the certain needs or applications it may serve. To better serve this purpose, research on the architecture and design of such systems is also important. We present the End-to-End Computer Vision Framework, an open-source solution that aims to support researchers and teachers within the image processing vast field. The framework has incorporated Computer Vision features and Machine Learning models that researchers can use. In the continuous need to add new Computer Vision algorithms for a day-to-day research activity, our proposed framework has an advantage given by the configurable and scalar architecture. Even if the main focus of the framework is on the Computer Vision processing pipeline, the framework offers solutions to incorporate even more complex activities, such as training Machine Learning models. EECVF aims to become a useful tool for learning activities in the Computer Vision field, as it allows the learner and the teacher to handle only the topics at hand, and not the interconnection necessary for visual processing flow