In collaboration with the TLC (Technology Learning Center), this past semester we expanded the scope of the Immersive Technology Initiative to increase access to our VR/AR tools. TLC students now can assist faculty, staff and students in our HTC Vive room during their daily open hours (found here). This added capacity has greatly increased the ways our community can experiment with these new technologies. We are very excited to be working with the TLC and look forward to continued collaboration.
This past fall we helped support a number of learning activities utilizing immersive technologies spanning the sciences, humanities, and first year seminars. Particularly exciting for me was Dr. Eugene Wu’s Structural Biology 3D modeling project. Dr. Wu asked his students to create a presentation on a biological structure and/or mechanism using 3D visualization tools. To complete the assignment, students utilized both the TLC’s 3D printing capability and molecular visualization software, Nanome, using the HTC Vive.
Below are all the courses that held Immersive Technology workshops in the fall. In addition to those course workshops, we also held 3 faculty-focused workshops. Together with the TLC, we hosted 9 workshops that exposed 112 students and faculty to the latest virtual and augmented reality technologies. If you are interested in using VR/AR technologies in your classroom and research program, please reach out to me at abell4@richmond.edu.
Courses Workshops
PSYCH 333 Cognitive Science Dr. Beth Crawford
FYS 101 The Search for the Self Prof. Marcia Whitehead
FYS 101 The Neuroscience of Photography Dr. Andrew Bell
RHCS 105 Media, Culture, and Identity Dr. Lauren Tilton
BIO 335 Structural Biology Dr. Eugene Wu
VR Spaces
Gottwald Science Reading Room (HTC Vive Pro)
Boatwright RM 321 (HTC Vive Pro)
Mobile Immersive Set (HTC Vive, can be set up anywhere within < 1 hr)
At the close of the 2016-2017 academic year, we recognized that in order to grow the Immersive Technology Initiative and impact more faculty and students, we needed a permanent space for our equipment and workshops. Working in collaboration with the A&S Dean’s office, the Library, and Information Services, we finally got our space on Gottwald Science Center’s third floor halfway through the spring 2018 semester. Since then, we’ve hosted weekly open houses for students and faculty and I’ve held 3 in-class workshops (see below). Our community of interested faculty, staff, and students continues to grow and we are really looking forward to new projects and collaborations in the 2018-2019 academic year!
Looking forward to this summer and next academic year, we are actively researching new software and hardware and seeking new collaborations in an effort to best support the University of Richmond student experience. If you are interested in using VR/AR technologies in your classroom and research program, please reach out to me at abell4@richmond.edu.
Courses Workshops
PSYCH 333 Cognitive Science Dr. Beth Crawford
FYS 101 The Search for the Self Prof. Marcia Whitehead
FYS 101 The Neuroscience of Photography Dr. Andrew Bell
FYS 100 Games, Game Theory, and Leadership Studies Dr. Kristin Bezio (community activity)
Independent Student Research
Erin Bonilla Exploring Science Education through Google Daydream Advisor Scott Bray
VR Spaces
Gottwald Science Reading Room (HTC Vive Pro)
Gottwald Liaison Office (HTC Vive, as needed)
Mobile Immersive Set (HTC Vive, can be set up anywhere within < 1 hr)
Events
Weekly Wednesday Open House in Gottwald Science Reading Room
Another semester is in the book here at the University of Richmond. I’m looking forward to big developments next semester for the Immersive Technologies community. The Gottwald Reading room will open with new VR and AR capabilities, probably students, faculty and staff access to on-demand VR technologies for research, study, and scholarship.
Content Creation
Prior to the creation of Photoshop in 1988, creating digital graphics and images were extremely challenging. Only a few engineers had the skills to create even the most rudimentary images. I believe 2017 will be the turning point for VR/AR content creation. The learning curve and development environment have started to look more and more manageable with developments from Unity, Google, and Apple in particular.
Google is putting together an impressive suite of development tools for aspiring VR artists and developers. Google Blocks is a great way to create shape files within VR, Google Tilt Brush is a great way to create environments within VR. and Google Poly is proving to be a compelling site to store and share one’s creations. I have some reservations about Google controlling these tools but the developments are certainly exciting.
The Future of Memory
If you’ve met me, you probably know how obsessed I am with the impact technology, particularly imagery, has on memory and recognition. In a general sense, medicine has gotten remarkably better in diagnosing and treating cardiovascular disease and cancer, so much so, life expectancy in the US is now above 80. So while doctors have gotten more capable of extending our lives, doctors have not made large impacts on reducing the impacts of dementia and the toil time takes on our brain function.
Can technology prolong our ability to transport ourselves into the past to relive our lives? Research and time will tell but the developments out of 8i are exciting and point towards a VR/AR use case that might cause massive consumer adoption. Holographic memories of our loved ones.
“Everybody wants holograms of their kids,” Nicole St. Jean, 8i’s vice president of content and a former Twitter executive, told me. St. Jean held up her iPhone and showed me an Instagram video of her son Lowell as an example. Only, it wasn’t just one Lowell in the clip: there was a one-year-old Lowell, juxtaposed with an almost two-year-old Lowell. One of these toddlers was a hologram.
We recently let an Education student borrow our Google Daydream to review. Here are her thoughts:
The google daydream itself was a really neat piece of equipment with some glaring disadvantages. Besides the cost, the daydream is very heavy, then add on your phone and it becomes even heavier. The strap was difficult to utilize and never got quite small enough for my head. The device itself fit my head very well, but it did not fit my husband when he tried it out; it really smashed his nose and hit his forehead in a weird spot. The highlights for the daydream are the fact that there is no outside light that can enter the device; I found this to be a draw back to the cardboard. And the remote is unbelievably useful. You can even see it virtually, which is a big plus when you need to orient yourself.
The app for the daydream was clunky and definitely has some kinks to work out. The tutorial is very helpful, but when downloading through the VR App store, it rarely works, and there is a lot of taking your device out, and putting it back in. It’s obvious that this technology is still in its infancy.
This technology would still be fun to implement in my future classrooms, but I have concerns about accountability. There’s no way for me to tell if they’re doing what they should be doing.
VR and Pain Management
Using VR as a therapy is gaining popularity and as the technology matures I imagine the use cases will only increase. Jeremy Bailenson is doing some great stuff using VR in pain management. Learn more here.
Chemistry and VR
One of the educational advantages of virtual reality content is that you are not bound by the laws of physics. You can visualize microscopic mechanisms and slow millisecond reactions. For this reason, I believe VR has the potential to change the way we teach sciences, particularly chemistry, biology, and physics. The first step for chemistry and biology is to get existing 3D models into a virtual environment. The ChimeraX team at UCSF have successfully done this. Exciting times!
I apologize for the hiatus in our newsletter. I was on parental leave welcoming my son, Jack, into this world. It’s good to be back!
ARKit now available on iOS 11!
If you follow this newsletter closely, you know I’m very excited about the lo-fi augmented reality experiences enabled by Apple’s ARKit and Google’s ARCore. Both are available to the public and the initial apps do not disappoint. Check out Atlas (an anatomy app) and Sky Guide (star atlas) for some of the best educational apps so far.
These AR experiences work great with the CTLT’s iPads. If you are faculty and want to use these experience in your classroom, connect with me!
Virtual Reality Casting Call?
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to act on stage?
Acting takes time, courage and a lifelong dedication that very few possess, and even less can do well… The creators behind Theatre VR say the program will allow you to experience what it is like to be an actor. Giving you the choice of which play and role to engage in, you’re fed your lines and given the opportunity to interact with either AI-driven or real players. (roadtoVR.com)
In theory, this sounds thrilling but I wonder how well the development comes together. I’ll be sure to download their demo if anyone on campus wants to try it out.
Timelooper
The educational power of immersive technologies comes from, in part, the sense of presence and scale that is simply not possible with traditional media. Timelooper is a mobile VR application that takes viewers to famous places during important moments in history (i.e. Trafalger Square, 1940 during Blitz). For me, the app is a bit cartoonish but is an interesting start to what I expect to be much more exciting and immersive experiences – particularly once AR merges with this. For instance, standing in Trafalgar Square and experience the square at different moments in history. This type of AR will likely require an ‘AR cloud’ – a topic I’ll talk more about next month.
