XR in Your Reality
Last class was really cool! Once again, two guest speakers were invited to join the class. Jaime Donally of ARVRinEDU and Chris Madsen of Immersive VR Education shared information about augmented, virtual, and mixed reality. Changing the way reality presents itself is the future of humanity, and industries and educators are taking note.
Professor Calderwood introduced Jaime Donally as the first guest speaker. She resides in Texas and loves working with the latest technology! XR, extended reality, is the umbrella term for all altered reality. Donally spoke about the different forms of changing our reality: AR, VR, and MR. AR, augmented reality, incorporates reality by adding a digital layer on top of the world view. VR, virtual reality, is completely digital and no longer shows the real world. MR, mixed reality, is similar to AR except the digital layer interacts with the real world. Facial filters on social media are the most common occurrence of MR in daily life. With reality altering technology, classrooms can bring in educational experiences that were previously impossible. For example, Donally's husband works as a science teacher, and he conducts experiments that would be impossible to perform physically in a classroom. Another example, her children can use AR for school projects. Also, companies use VR for meetings especially since they cannot meet in-person due to COVID-19 regulations. Some programs recommended by Jaime Donally are ARize, Arloopa, Assemblr, EyeJack, and WebAR. They are all mostly free and work cross platform! She covers the details of the apps here in her blog post. Our next guest was Chris Madsen. He spoke to us through the VR app Engage. It was new for me to listen to a speaker taking form of a virtual avatar! Companies use Engage to host meetings since it can support an ample amount of people. To create his avatar to fit his likeness, Madsen simply took a selfie and uploaded it into the system. With Engage, students from Stanford attended class and conducted various labs. Madsen wanted to show the class examples of the labs, so he imported a cadaver into the digital world. He was able to pull out various organs and structures to examine up close by enlarging. A brain, heart, skull, jaw, A different lab was aimed toward veterinarian students. Madsen imported a limping dog into the scene. Students were tasked to identify which leg was injured and had the chance to examine the bone structure of the injured leg. The X-ray of the bones then became a tangible object that the avatar within the program can manipulate.
Chapter 8 of Light, Bright & Polite by Josh Ochs deals with reactions to negative posts. Throughout the book, Ochs has explained how social media is positive. It showcases your positives and the skills you bring as an individual. Ochs taught his audience that avoiding social media hinders others from seeing what good you provide or leaves them wondering what you must hide. Thinking about what we post online in the present will save our reputations in the future. However, how do we know how to act when others are not following the gospel Ochs preaches? In this chapter, he provides strategies to use when reacting to negative posts. If a friend posts a photo from a party and you are tagged in it, simply ask your friend to untag you or choose to not have the photo viewable on your personal page. Another strategy is to google your name and see what appears. If results that do not fit your online brand appear, you can go through the necessary steps to create a change. Ochs provides the Footprint Friday as a tool to help monitor your digital footprint. After filling out your information, an email will be sent every Friday with a summary of the week's online activity. This tool will help clean up your search results, like refurbishing a house to increase its curb appeal!
Psychologists use virtual reality to better understand the brains of individuals with autism. George Musser of Spectrum explains in his article how technology is used to research potential treatments to help autistic people to better manage their challenges. With the power of VR, somebody can immerse themself into a similar experience the autistic community faces on a daily basis. Rather than watching a movie, VR simulations allow for a new sense of understanding and empathy. It allows for people who are seen as "neurotypical" to look at life through a new perspective. One treatment derived involved children with autism practicing their public socialization skills via VR. Some people with autism have reported a preference to VR rather than having to repeat their experiences constantly.
The music industry also grasped the potentials of utilizing VR. According to Rob LeFebvre, the company Universal Music Group partnered with Within, a VR storytelling company, to bring music to life! OneRepublic and The Chemical Brothers are two collaborators that experimented with this newfound technology. The collaborations are available on Within's app which is available on different platforms and can be viewed through a headset. Music plays a significant role in the art world, so adding an immersive, visual experience helps to amply its message and effects!
Do you like indoor plants? Would you believe me if I said AR shares information on which plants improve mood and air quality? With augmented reality, you can do just that! In his article on New Atlas, Nick Lavars reviews the Plant Life Balance app. It is available for both iOS and android devices. Plus, it is free! With the app, users can take a photo of the space in a room, enter the number of plants in a room, and receive data based on the level of health benefits the space offers. From there, users can drop in virtual plants varying in size to find their optimal score. The app compiles any added greenery into a shopping list, as well.
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