One of our campus's biggest strengths is our commitment to a "future made by hand," which reflects our institutional dedication to training our next-generation workforce by putting the actual tools they'll be using in their grasp, in the environment in which they'll work. This formula has proven successful across many disciplines and many generations of learners, and we pride ourselves in the fact that our students get industry-standard hands-on training before they ever leave our campus. Unfortunately, not every hands-on task can be replicated in a classroom environment, and sometimes staying up to date with cutting-edge industry trends and technologies is prohibitively expensive. Enter "mixed reality," a blanket term that includes virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and a variety of other iterations of digital environment creation that's proving increasingly valuable in instructional spaces.
There are a wide array of competing VR and AR tools available, with companies like Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and HTC all in competition for market dominance. On the lower end, products like Google's Cardboard and Facebook's Oculus Go provide portable interactive experiences for relatively low cost. Conversely, Microsoft's Hololens 2, HTC's Vive Pro, and Facebook's Oculus Rift offer significantly more enhanced experiences at significantly higher price points. These tools support a broad range of mixed reality experiences, from simple 360-degree YouTube videos (on Google's Cardboard, for instance), to fully immersive interactive virtual environments (on HTC's Vive Pro), to the ability to look at real-world objects and see a 3D digi al overlay in real-time (Microsoft's Hololens).
On our campus, we've implemented these tools instructionally in a variety of ways – from Welding instructors using a custom VR welding rig for student recruiting, to Horticulture faculty employing Oculus Rift's headset for immersive views of landscape designs, to Construction and Design student capstone projects created with HTC's Vive Pro platform. In the future, we may see mixed reality environments work concurrently with physical locations for things like clinical rotations, tool and vehicle certifications, and architectural planning. Scott Geist, Director of Surgical Technology, noted, "Modern operating rooms are so complex and expensive, it's almost impossible to recreate them on a college campus. Virtual reality tools can expose our students to those environments for a fraction of the cost of the actual space."
As a learning tool, Mixed Reality is likely here to stay. Positive response to VR/AR simulation and teaching tools has been overwhelming globally, particularly among GenZ/iGen learners. The inclusion of simulated environments for certification testing has consistently delivered improved results. The addition of virtual environments, particularly in conjunction with flexible learning spaces and self-directed learning, has repeatedly been shown to improve learning outcomes and skill retention in younger learners.
If you're intrigued by the possibilities of mixed realty and want to learn more, schedule a visit to the Madigan Library's VR Studio located on the 2nd floor of the Library. The VR studio features a high-end computing workstation with an HTC Vive Pro headset and large-screen monitor, allowing guests to watch what the user is exploring in VR. Opened in Fall 2018, the space has proven very popular with students. While students have used the space largely for gaming and leisure, it has also been employed by faculty to augment instruction – including virtual planetarium visits by astronomy c asses and immersive 3D VR modeling work by design students. The VR studio is available to students Sunday through Thursday, 3 PM to 10 PM, and to faculty by appointment. Contact Jim Dougherty, Director of Computing and Media Services, for more information.
Further Reading:
We would like to thank Jim Dougherty, Director of Computing and Media Services, for sharing his expertise with us for our final article of the spring 2019 semester.