| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
 |
 |
 |
ENG |
||
personal website of Vladimir Chistiakov | |||||
|
|
|
ENG |
||
personal website of Vladimir Chistiakov | |||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
HITECH PARADE MONTHLY
|
Relevant literatures were reviewed to generate a landscape of what is known about a particular situation. Selected literatures have been organized in such topics: 1. Research studies related to activities on "compulsory" education in Virtual Reality 2. Research studies related to gaming education 3. Research studies related to design and logistics activities using Virtual Reality 4. Reviews related to global educational projects using Virtual Reality 1. Research studies related to activities on "compulsory" education in Virtual Reality: There are many sources that describe positive empirical results of Virtual Reality usage, that were gained in course of training policemen, pilots, designers, engineers, miners, doctors and many other specialists (Grabowski A. & Jankowski J., 2015). These technologies also showed the enhanced outputs for medical therapy and the ones in public purposes: on enhancing child pedestrian safety, for instance (Schwebel, D. et al., 2016). Main advantages arose from simulating circumstances that in real life occur rather rare (specific cardiological surgery, disaster rescues), or will happen in future (new architecture, space investigations), or are too expensive (Portman, M. et al., 2015). All these empirical education researches had (or can have) their pre-VR analogues: in format of tests or quizes based on texts or pictures printed on paper or displayed via monitors. They all are a kind of hard work or gymnastics that requires from a trainee (student, patient, specialist) some efforts that later will be rewarded by better job, salary, health, safety. Virtual Reality itself makes such trainings more attractive than their pre-VR analogues (Häfner, P. et al., 2013). Multiple authors describe in this pool of studies their local situations, approaches and technologies by means of which they embodied their ideas. Most of these cases showed the advisability of Virtual Reality methods, but researchers scarcely compare their new results with traditional training practices, including monetary analysis. Many authors confessed that their explorations should be extended in the contexts with altered key parameters (Abdelhameed, W.A., 2013). Some investigations revealed that VR training did not always exceed standard training outcomes and spending extra costs on VR hardware, software and scenarios would not be advisable (Bertram, J. et al., 2015). It’s mostly hard to understand whether a VR-method that demonstrated its high cognitive efficiency in one university/company/country can be also helpful and sensible in another place. The researchers do not pay attention to this aspect, being primarily concentrated on feasibility of their experiments. 2. Research studies related to gaming education: In these sources authors describe cases in which for cognitive and cum-savvy purposes they added gambling or/and competitive intrigues to their pedagogic processes. Such trainings become much more pleasant procedures for students than the "compulsory' education described in clause 1 (Strickland, H. P. & Kaylor, S. K., 2016). It should be marked that elaboration of gambling/competitive methods, utilizing all opportunities of modern digital environment, needs the enhanced creativity from authors. It is similar to art, especially playwriting, and deals with both specific psychological principles and computer usability skills (Kopp, W. & Hanson, M.A., 2012). Gaming cases in which Virtual Reality was geared, obviously enlarged student interest and motivation towards instruction flows. All reviewed sources of this pool confirmed the higher degree of user satisfaction with VR gaming approach, most students were keen to keep playing (Nishizawa, H., et al., 2013). Some investigations revealed that comparison of trainee manipulations with actual 3-dimensional objects or computer-generated 3-dimensional objects (VR) showed less identity between them than the identity between VR and Video Gaming environments (Willis, P. E. et al., 2014). 3. Research studies related to design and logistics activities using Virtual Reality: Investigations in this field confirmed that the VR use is especially beneficial in the designing phase. Virtual Reality becomes more than effective design medium, it facilitates selective reinterpretation and immediate evaluation, allows designers to oscillate easily between design elements’ properties, abstract representation, and component assembly of the system in a single design activity (Kuliga, S.F. et al., 2016). Improbable, a London-based start-up, created an operating system called SpatialOS that is a computing platform that runs across thousands of machines on Google's cloud. It solves hard physics problems associated with a persistent simulation, enabling developers to create games, evolving stories and other forms of entertainment. One of these projects is MetaWorld, its developer - HelloVR - describes the decision as a "10,000 square mile massively scaled open world." SpatialOS can be a critical tool for all sorts of systems requiring sophisticated logistics. Cities, transportation companies, and energy and telecommunications providers are all prospective users of Improbable's simulation technology. Urban planners and architects can build out near-real-life models and analyze what happens to traffic flows when a new building or neighborhood is constructed. (Levy, A., 2016). 4. Reviews related to global educational projects using Virtual Reality: Many international companies have already launched their educational programs available via Internet for any school or university regardless its placement on the globe or time zone. The most advanced are: Google Expeditions, Immersive VR Education, Cultural Heritage, Alchemy VR, Discovery VR, zSpace, Curiscope, WoofbertVR, Nearpod, EON Reality. Google Expeditions enable teachers to bring students on virtual trips to places like museums, underwater, and outer space. Expeditions are collections of linked Virtual Reality content and supporting materials that can be used alongside existing curriculum. Immersive VR Education simulates a lecture hall in virtual reality, while adding special effects which cannot be utilized in a traditional classroom setting. Cultural Heritage allows scientific community to find new ways to visualize and disclose 3D digitally reconstructed heritage scenarios of Oculus Rift and Kinect. In this way, archaeological sites or fragile environments with forbidden access due the preservation policies can also be virtually visited and inspected (Fernández-Palacios, B.J. et al., 2016). There were not yet found analytical reviews of all these initiatives, in which their efficiencies would be compared and trends explored. Literature review summary Analysing approaches and results in the reviewed sources showed that basic technical aspects of VR gaming education - such as availability of VR devices and cloud-based operation systems - are primarily provided. Most hard and creative component of the problem now lays in compiling really effective training scenarios that would utilize all opportunities of Virtual Reality advantages, as well as enhancing likeability by adding serious gaming-and-competition elements in educational process. It should be stressed that VR serious gaming is an absolutely new challenge for innovative pedagogic specialists. They should thoroughly examine commercial VR gaming not just criticizing game addictivity, but extracting rational approaches from it and finding appropriate ways of adding them to serious game education in VR environments. It would be a long innovative road with multiple experiments, errors and improvements. They should elaborate general principles and frameworks for compiling VR serious gaming decisions. The primary trainee auditorium for embodiment of such globally universal frameworks should be mass professions: nurses, policemen, drivers, salesmen and so on. Another sensible initial pool can be the most popular courses on learning languages, math, physics, chemistry, biology in schools and universities. November 2016
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
