AR will transform education
Technology to help level playing fields
AUGMENTED reality (AR) has the capability to radically change the way we interact with technology.
In a few years it is likely that cell phones, tablets and even computers may no longer exist in their current form. They will be moved into a virtual world before our eyes, such as in the sci-fi movies.
Three-dimensional holograms will become possible, and we will be able to make “hologram” phone calls.
Movies promising a 3D experience will deliver just that: characters that literally jump out of the 2D screen into the real world. The experience will be surreal.
Billions of dollars are being spent on research and development of AR, and companies such as Microsoft and Mojo Vision are pushing to make AR headsets cheaper and more compact. Later this month Microsoft will release HoloLens 2, a more compact successor to its original AR headset.
Mojo Vision wants to take things further by developing AR contact lenses. While this may seem far-fetched, they have raised $50 million (R711m) in funding for R&D, which means that investors are taking them seriously.
Another sign AR technology is being taken seriously is that the US military has ordered $480m worth of AR hardware from Microsoft.
The headsets will be used for training purposes for now, but there are plans to use them in live combat, giving soldiers heads-up displays which fighter pilots have.
The headsets will provide facial recognition, aim assistance and health monitoring.
A number of companies have seen the potential of AR in education and training. DHL has introduced AR to train new staff and has reduced training time to nearly zero. Texas-based oil and gas company Baker-Hughes uses AR to train new technicians to repair complex machines.
AR has massive potential in education and training, but this will not be confined to corporate and military worlds: AR will soon play a significant role in education from pre-school to tertiary levels.
In countries such as South Africa, AR could level the playing field in favour of disadvantaged learners.
As an example, consider learners studying a practical subject such as motor mechanics. Typically, groups huddle around a single engine, because it is not feasible for each learner to have their own.
Using AR headsets will change this. Each student will have access to their own “virtual” engine. They will be able to take it apart, study each part and put it back together.
They will be able to do this with any number of engines from any make and model of vehicle.
There will be no fear of injury or breakage.
Students studying biology will be able to dissect virtual animals using their AR headsets, without having to kill real ones. In fact, advanced simulators will enable students to view the internal functioning of all types of animals while they are still alive.
They will be able to track the digestive system, see the blood flow from the heart through the body and see the animal’s muscles in action, all in AR space.
There are already AR apps available to do some of that.
Insight Heart is an app that allows us to see the workings of the human heart.
Another, Human Anatomy Atlas, allows us to better understand human anatomy using AR.
For those interested in astronomy, there is an app called Sky
Guide. With it, you hold your phone to the night sky, and it will point out the various constellations and celestial bodies in the sky above you and provide information about each.
The BBC Civilisation app allows us to study ancient civilisations in a way we could never do before: by immersing us right in.
AR will change a number of industries, but for me the most exciting changes will come in the education space. AR will make learning much more immersive, exciting and effective.
Judging from the AR apps that are already out there, it is not hard to see how this will be possible.
The apps will enable learners in the most disadvantaged schools and in the deepest rural areas the opportunity to see and do things and visit places that they otherwise would never have the opportunity to.
Schools and educators will be challenged to rise to the occasion and fully embrace technology or face becoming obsolete and placing their learners at a huge disadvantage.