Designated spaces for VR and AR
A WAY to increase access to VR and AR experiences is by having dedicated spaces on campus for research and demonstration purposes.
At Monash University Malaysia, Associate Professor Dr Arkendu Sen and Associate Professor Dr Lakshmi Selvaratnam initiated a futuristic technology-enhanced Medical Anatomy and Pathology E-Learning (Mapel) Lab.
Dr Lakshmi said: “The lab is integrated with an award-winning networked active collaborative learning ecosystem of teacher and student multitouch tabletop computers (smart tables) together with an extensive range of anatomy and pathology learning resources.”
Supported by their Medical School as well as national and international grants, the lecturers from the Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences have worked on several initiatives related to education technology.
“This includes designing and evaluating education technologies for anatomy, histology and pathology through 3D, AR and VR imaging applications, collaborative active learning systems, e-learning modules and remote skills e-training,” she said.
VR and AR are effective tools to encourage collaborative learning.
“Every week, we have large cohorts of medical and healthcare students, around 120 to 160 students, working in collaborative smaller groups on practical-based tasks. Students are encouraged to work in teams to review practical-based tasks and with hands-on use of learning resources, facilitated by expert tutors.
“They also give presentations and practical demonstrations to their peers which is broadcasted to the entire cohort through the multimediaenabled audio visual system,” said Dr Lakshmi.
Moving forward, Dr Sen is spearheading AR and VR dedicated classrooms named Monash Malaysia Educational Games and Immersive Learning Experience (Megile) Lab.
“In regular classrooms, teachers may find it challenging to troubleshoot the technicalities of the AR activity without support from technical staff. Limited number of displays also makes participation difficult.
“Hence, this classroom will allow various displays and equipment to be used to create an immersive experience and aid student learning using pedagogies that incorporate AR and VR.”
At Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, the Mixed and Virtual Environment Research Lab (Mivielab) was established to focus on AR and VR.
Mivielab is part of the university’s Virtual, Vision and Visualisation Research Lab, a crossdisciplinary research group. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Computing Faculty senior lecturer and Mivielab head Dr Ajune Wanis Ismail said: “In response to the challenge of the 4th Industrial Revolution, we created a VR classroom for students to experience the immersive learning environment.
“We investigate both software and hardware components to enable AR, VR and MR technologies, along with researching the usability of such interfaces.”
The lab enhances the teaching and learning process of various subjects. “We have a VR Ancient Malacca walkthrough, an urban planning workbench and AR interior design app. We want to ensure that students explore and use new technologies that will spark their curiosity and enhance their knowledge acquisition.
“At UTM, we run the VR space to be flexible and portable,” she said.