Virtual Reality Laboratory for Distance Learning

2010

In recent years there has been significant growth in the use of 3D virtual worlds for e-learning and distance education. These immersive environments offer the ability to create complex, highly interactive simulations using in-world modeling and scripting tools. Virtual learning environments' support teaching and learning in an educational context, offering the functionality to manage the presentation, administration and assessment of coursework. This paper will discuss the practicalities of using immersive virtual worlds for teaching and ...

3-D virtual environments for online learning may be considered a second generation of software for distance learning support and allows learning by doing. The construction of these environments with both proprietary and open technologies was the object of the work related in this paper. Methodology and processes used in the creation of 3-D objects and in the development of a collaborative learning environment software using virtual reality are presented as well as some details about implementation. A virtual tutor based on chat technology is also part of the designed and implement virtual laboratory aimed to support collaborative learning.

Advances in Multimedia, 2008

The Virtual Immersive Learning (VIL) test bench implements a virtual collaborative immersive environment, capable of integrating natural contexts and typical gestures, which may occur during traditional lectures, enhanced with advanced experimental sessions. The system architecture is described, along with the motivations, and the most significant choices, both hardware and software, adopted for its implementation. The novelty of the approach essentially relies on its capability of embedding functionalities that stem from various research results (mainly carried out within the VICOM national project), and "putting the pieces together" in a well-integrated framework. These features, along with its high portability, good flexibility, and, above all, low cost, make this approach appropriate for educational and training purposes, mainly concerning measurements on telecommunication systems, at universities and research centers, as well as enterprises. Moreover, the methodology can be employed for remote access to and sharing of costly measurement equipment in many different activities. The immersive characteristics of the framework are illustrated, along with performance measurements related to a specific application.

Technical universities are more and more focusing on engineering education as a primary discipline. All along with the integration of various innovative fields of application into the curriculum of prospective engineers the need for appropriate educational features into the studies also increases. Unlike exclusively theoretical studies as physics, mathematics or information sciences the education of engineers extensively relies on the integration of practical use-cases into the education process. However, not every university is able to provide technical demonstrators or laboratories for all of the various applications in the field of engineering. Thus, it is the aim of the current paper to propose a method that enables visiting a high variety of engineering laboratories based on Virtual Reality. A Virtual Reality simulator is used to create and emulate remote laboratories that can be located at arbitrary places far away from their Virtual Reality representation. This way, by melting real world demonstrators with virtual environments, we enable a physically and technically accurate simulation of various engineering applications. The proof of concept is performed by the implementation and testing of a laboratory experiment that consists of two six-axis robots performing collaborative tasks.

2020

This paper focuses on a utilization of advanced virtual reality approaches and technologies as especially progressive tools in the context of online education, training and testing. The purpose of the utilization is to allow easier, faster and more attractive education and training in the areas containing topics and concepts that are not easy to comprehend or that are too expensive to be carried out in the real world. The paper explores collaborative virtual reality and its role in online education, primarily from the LIRKIS G-CVE utilization point of view. LIRKIS G-CVE is a web-based collaborative virtual reality system, based on the A-Frame and Networked-Aframe software solutions. LIRKIS G-CVE is described and three of its educational and training applications are presented: virtual environments for a university course dealing with virtual reality, an environment for patient rehabilitation and another one for an industrial training. Plans for LIRKIS G-CVE utilization in elementary...

2013 24th EAEEIE Annual Conference (EAEEIE 2013), 2013

The constant changes occurring in today's teaching and learning processes provide a continuous improvement in the interaction of information. At the same time, globalization and the need for streamlining time facilitate the development of new methods of imparting knowledge.

2022

Virtual Reality has become a significant element of education throughout the years. To understand the quality and advantages of these techniques, it is important to understand how they were developed and evaluated. Since COVID-19, the education system has drastically changed a lot. It has shifted from being in a classroom with a whiteboard and projectors to having your own room in front of your laptop in a virtual meeting. In this respect, virtual reality in the laboratory or Virtual Laboratory is the main focus of this research, which is intended to comprehend the work done in quality education from a distance using VR. As per the findings of the study, adopting virtual reality in education can help students learn more effectively and also help them increase perspective, enthusiasm, and knowledge of complex notions by offering them an interactive experience in which they can engage and learn more effectively. This highlights the importance of a significant expansion of VR use in learning, the majority of which employ scientific comparison approaches to compare students who use VR to those who use the traditional method for learning.

ADCAIJ: Advances in Distributed Computing and Artificial Intelligence Journal

Since its emergence in the 1960s, the use of virtual reality (VR) has grown progressively. This wide dissemination of VR has allowed its application in an increasing number of disciplines, including education. It is well known that virtual laboratories (VLs), which base their use in VR technology, are very useful tools in both university and professional training. In this article, the main advantages and disadvantages of the use of modern VLs in teaching are analyzed. In addition, the design and development process that must be followed to appropriately create these VLs is described in detail, as well as a small-scale study of the perception that university teachers have about the use of VR in education. Lastly, the reasons why the implementation of VR is not currently as broad as it would be expected, given its proven potential in different fields, are discussed.

2007

This paper presents a web-based laboratory for distance learners by incorporating simulation and hardware implementation into web-based e-learning systems. It presents a development consisting of laboratory course through internet based on mixed reality technique to setup, run and manipulate set of experiments. Each experiment has been designed in a way that allows the learner to manipulate the components and check if it works properly in order to achieve the experiment objective. The proposed laboratory e-learning tool has web-based components accessed by authorized users. Learners can acquire the necessary skills they need, while learning the theory of the experiment and the basic characteristics of each component used in the experiment. Finally, a case study was conducted to show the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed method.

Technology is changing our way to experience education from one-dimensional (physical) to multi dimensional (physical and virtual) education using a diversity of resources such as web-based platforms (eLearning), videoconferences, eBooks and innovative technologies (e.g. mixed reality, virtual worlds, immersive technology, etc.). This represents bigger opportunities for universities and educational institutions to collaborate with partners from around the world and to be part of today’s knowledge economy. This also enables greater opportunities to experience distance learning, modifying our experience of both space and time, changing specific spatial locations to ubiquitous locations and time as asynchronous/synchronous according to our necessities. The use of virtual and remote laboratory activities is an example of the application of some of these concepts. In this paper we propose a different approach to the integration of the physical and virtual world by creating remote mixed reality collaborative laboratory activities within an InterReality Portal learning environment, thereby extending our previous progress towards these goals. The learning goal of our mixed reality lab activity is to produce Internet-of-Things-based computer projects using combinations of Cross-Reality (xReality) and Virtual objects based on co-creative and collaborative interaction between geographically dispersed students.