CBLE Blog week 2

CBLE Blog week 2 

Looking into technology for learning virtual reality and augmented reality.  

The class was split up into to groups to look at different Assistive technologies; I was tasked with looking into VR (virtual reality) and AR (Augmented reality) systems.

VR is a new and emerging technology only made possible by the leaps in computing power over the last 10 years. It gives the users a unique experience when donging the headset you are completely surrounded by a virtual world. Some head sets even com with a  controller to interacted with the VR world via motion controls devices (similar to the Wii controllers from Nintendo a few years back, Just more advanced.)   

 AR is a similar concept but instead of using a head set and going inside a VR world, Virtual assets are loaded up over real life and viewed through an app on a smart device with camera. Examples of this  include the likes of : Pokémon Go on mobile devices, And Ikea furniture app that will allow users to view furniture from the Ikea catalogue in the spaces in there home at the correct size.  These devices can bring a huge amount of extra immersion, giving the students to see fact to face with dinosaurs or the creatures deep below the surface of the ocean, or even tag along on the Apollo 11 moon mission.

The full potential of  VR software like this is far from being reached as systems like this have only been sold to the public for a couple of years, and still carries a high price tag for entry. But in a few years once prices drop it could be common to see engineering students building Virtual engines inside VR, Science lessons shrinking students down to explore the atoms and molecules.  

This when AR will show up in classrooms long before VR price is affordable, The main advantage is that students can uses there own devices to access the AR applications. This sort of thing I find really interesting as a student that had trouble engaging with work set out for me in my school years.  

Some links to Website explaining the full benefits of these systems will be uploaded to the group wiki.