Why automated and virtual reality is the next big thing in the tech-meets-learning space
Do you know what sets us homosapiens of today apart from the rock shoveling Neanderthals a hundred thousand years ago? It is the ability to keep working on yourself and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. These principles have laid down the basics of human evolution and it is by virtue of this determination that today you are just three clicks away from information handcrafted by the greatest scholars like Euclid dating back to 48 century BC, the works of which were presented in the library of Alexandria and are now available on the internet.
This article however is not about evolution. To begin this article, I had to remind our readers about the chain of events that kickstarted this virtual revolution amid which we find ourselves today. This writeup is about a breakthrough at par with something as great as the discovery of fire itself augmented reality and virtual reality, the amalgamation of which is known as extended realty or XR.
The past few years have introduced each one of us to AR and VR in some way or the other. Be it trying out virtual frames on Lenskart for a perfect date or flying as Iron Man in the streets of New York through
Play station - VR, extended reality has penetrated its way into our lives and puts in front of us the visions for a prosperous future, technical prosperity of course. Extended reality has already started to prove useful in a variety of industries some of which include tourism, healthcare, training, and urban planning.
One of the most underutilized aspects of this gargantuan technological achievement remains in the field of education. Albert Einstein once said, “I never teach my pupils, I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.”
AR and VR are very adaptable technologies that can help a student to learn at their own pace, resulting in better understanding for every student, something that traditional methods usually miss out on. Another reason as to why these technologies are the future of education is because they allow deeper and wider integration of other technologies, thus acting as a platform just like computers do for a variety of software.
Through AR and VR passionate educators can create immersive environments for their students that will play a major role in enhancing the learning experience by introducing a plethora of new worlds for the students to explore. Remember how you used to dissect frogs as a part of your biology practical? It can now be done through augmented reality without getting your hands dirty. With the current technological capability, it is possible to display the internal organs of an organism in your own surrounding through properly labeled 3D diagrammatic representations.
The use of virtual reality allows students to dive into the deepest oceans and soar in the bluest skies through the comfort of their bedrooms and classrooms. By carefully curating these learning techniques and introducing them in our curriculum we open a whole new world of learning opportunities in subjects like history and geography by virtually recreating the toughest of terrains and various monumental historical events. Imagine someone being guillotined in front of your eyes during the French revolution, in my opinion that’s the one class no would like to miss.
Now you cannot write an article about AR VR without mentioning its usage in science. By means of extended reality we can allow the students to explore the endless bounds of the universe by making them float through black holes and supernovae. By showing them how a star is born we may just give rise to a star within those ambitious eyes waiting for the right opportunity. Space is not the only thing they will be able to explore, reduce the scale by the Planck’s constant and voila you just entered the quantum world by placing that VR headset in front of your eyes. Pathbreaking discoveries in quantum physics like the Heisenberg uncertainty principle and quantum tunneling can be better explained through VR allowing the students to have a better understanding about the world of atoms. Here’s a name for the first VR lesson about quantum mechanics: A Day in the life of an electron. Again, that is one lesson no one would want to miss.
To sum up, the possibilities of extended reality in education are endless, the innovation has already started, the vision has already been seen, the foundation has already been laid and the future is closer to us than ever. For the first time in history, we can do justice to our imagination, AR VR is that one technology that has the potential to go as far as the bounds of our imagination and like I said in the beginning of this writeup, it is by virtue of this determination that is allowing us to pave the way for a hopeful future for the upcoming generation.
“Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” Albert Einstein