The Horizon Report has mentioned that Augmented and Virtual Reality will be making an impact on education in the years to come. A few years ago, I had my first introduction to the idea of Augmented Reality through a TED Talk called “Meet the SixthSense Interaction” and it so impressive to me that it got me thinking about what that could mean for learning (check out this post). While there isn’t much out there yet that is accessible to education, I have found an interesting example of Augmented Reality created by GE. Before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s understand the difference between the two terms.
- Augmented Reality – digitally adds a layer of information to the physical world to enhance your interaction with the world around you.
- Virtual Reality – creates an alternative digital “world” or “space” which immerses the user in a different environment completely from the one they are physically in at that moment and allows the user to interact with that digital environment through.
In this example, the black icon on the printed paper acts as a trigger to initiate the reveal of specific information. When I think about the technology shown in the TED talk along with the experience the GE site provides, it continues to make me hope that objects in our everyday lives can become triggers themselves. Think about a student walking up to a flower and by pointing an iPod Touch camera at it and being able to see information about the flower or maybe a digital simulation of how photosynthesis works. Now, all we need them to invent is a way for students to be able to capture and record their interactions with that information, so when they aren’t standing over the flower, they can still interact with it.
