Making Virtual Reality a Reality in STEM Education Mrs Rhian Kerton and Dr Marc Holmes
The College of Engineering New(ish) 450m Swansea Bay Campus Rapidly growing Diverse student body > 3300 UG engineering students > 150 academic staff Established research excellence
Changing times Focus on teaching excellence to complement research excellence (TEF) Rapid developments in Technology and Technology Enhanced Learning Challenge with student numbers, need to be competitive Changing industrial needs employability
Proof of concept (2016-2017) Technical expertise (VR Research Officer) Small scale investment in equipment Buy in from engaged staff, upskilling, technical support Distinct VR interventions linked to specific modules
Pilot VR interventions: Anatomy Mechanical Engineering Design Empathy for Older Adults Beam bending Inner Space VR Virtual Museum of biology scans. Rocket Science Construction Management Civil Engineering Conceptual Design Climate Change Awareness Many More Non Pilot VR Projects
Successes and challenges: Challenges: Staff didn t have time to develop skills Facility limitations - VR is space intensive Finite technical support, VR department had 50+ projects Successes: Increased learning gain Assisted student design visualization Enabled learning unable to be achieved via any other system
Widening participation: Need to increase exposure Delinking VR interventions from taught modules Programme level applications Expanding technical team Unity Developer, TEL Technician Further hardware and software investments Dedicated VR spaces VR Café VR Library
Where do I start? The first question you need to ask is what is the intended use of the application? Conduct research into what others have already done in the area Limited selection of commercial apps All applications until they are released are paper tigers User test for suitability of application Current non-vr marketing is a poor way to judge VR content
Types of VR 3 Degrees of Freedom Smart Phone 3DoF Google Cardboard Stand Alone 3DoF Oculus Go PC Room Scale Vive, Oculus, WMR Gaming PC Required Stand Alone 6DoF (Coming soon) Oculus Quest
VR 3DoF Google Cardboard or Oculus Go 360 cameras Stereo and Monosphere, pre rendered environments, limited virtual worlds Spatial Learning possible - see our app Oxwich (pre-site tour) Cooperative learning Students 70+% own iphones which are not suitable for Google Cardboard
Room Scale VR: Vive, Vive Pro, Oculus Rift, WMR
To Develop your own Full complex control Unity Unreal Social VR VRChat, Sansar, Altspace, Neos VR Sketchfab for 3D models to be viewed 360 tours https://vr.google.com/tourcreator/ WebVR
360 cameras Stereo and mono sphere Low Pixel per radian be close to the object or interest Eye height 1.5 meters Two pictures taken to remove photographer (no behind camera with a 360 camera) Earlier testing showed users reacted to constant presence of photographer rather than focusing on learning objective
Photogrammetry Scanning https://sketchfab.com/m odels/71e278be58324d1 78e11f775dd8ea3ec#
Becoming leaders Lead the way with the use of VR to enhance learning and teaching Share successes and drive collaboration Inaugural conference held in September 2018 on Virtual and Augmented Reality to Enhance Learning and Teaching in Higher Education All work available online https://eng-imo.swan.ac.uk/ Pockets of innovation at a number of other HEI s OneHE network
The Reality Innovative use of technology required for effective STEM teaching and to prepare students for Industry 4.0 STEM learning and teaching provision needs to remain flexible and responsive to changing needs Power in collaborative working, need for strong leadership