Educational Applications of Immersive Technology: A Technical Report

Abstract

The technology which is revolutionizing the present and future as well is known as extended/immersive reality technology. It means either creating or extending the reality; this is done via immersion of user into digital environment. Applications of extended reality can be found out in different domains like healthcare, transportation construction, gaming, education etc. Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR) are amongst the fastest growing and fascinating immersive technologies of today’s era [1]. In 1989, Jaron Lanier had coined the termed Virtual Reality. He had presented his vision of Ultimate Display that mimics the real world in a conference at Sutherland. Generally, headsets are used in VR technology to immerse the user into digital environment [2]. In last few decades, VR technology is developing at exponential speed specifically in the fields of entertainment and training. Almost on weekly or daily basis, new applications or systems based on this domain are coming. In VR technology, users are totally immersed in the virtual world whereas in AR technology, being present in the real world users visualize or add some objects virtually. Moreover, it can also remove some object from real environment. Recently, researchers are focusing mostly on adding object virtually on the real environment. Graphic overlay technique is used to hide or remove some objects from real environment. Even sound, videos and animation can also blend in AR technology. Interactive AR applications are gaining more popularity in the field of education [3]. Likewise, MR too provides fresh ideas for innovative and creative learning. It supports the combining of virtual and real worlds to provide novel visualizations and environments where digital and physical objects co-exist and act together in real time. The MR combines AR and VR, whereby AR blends the virtual and the real world, while VR allows learners to be completely immersed in the virtual world. The combination of real and virtual worlds may differ according to the application requirements [4]. This article surveys the research on traditional and VR/AR/MR based educational applications and reviews their trends and patterns covering publications from 2018 to 2021. The motive of the paper is to explore the potentials of VR, AR and MR in imparting impactful education; learning and teaching. There are prospects in improving the teaching techniques of computer science and mathematics through these applications [5-6]. Different types of traditional and modern teaching and learning methods, techniques and applications are explored to find out the research gaps in the field of education. A comparison is drawn amongst all the available methods, techniques and applications. A new methodology based on AR, VR and MR for teaching and learning is proposed in this paper.