xReality interactions within an immersive blended reality learning space

Multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs), used in training, entertainment and education, had been a reality for several years now, allowing users to perform collaborative activities using virtual settings and virtual objects. Nowadays, technological advances are opening the possibility of integrating multiuser virtual environments with so-called ubiquitous virtual reality (U-VR); extending and complementing real and virtual worlds in a blended reality space. In this work-in-progress paper we describe our efforts towards the implementation of a blended reality distributed system, to achieve integration between real and virtual objects, using smart objects (xReality objects) and immersive technology in a mixed reality learning environment, extending our previous work towards the creation of a holistic option to enable geographically dispersed learners to collaborate on laboratory activities.

[1]  Victor Callaghan,et al.  Developing xReality objects for mixed-reality environments , 2013, Intelligent Environments.

[2]  Graham Clarke,et al.  Soft-appliances: A vision for user created networked appliances in digital homes , 2009, J. Ambient Intell. Smart Environ..

[3]  Michael Gardner,et al.  Towards a framework for the design of mixed reality immersive education spaces , 2012 .

[4]  Chris Fowler,et al.  Virtual reality and learning: Where is the pedagogy? , 2015, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[5]  Michael Gardner,et al.  End-user programming & deconstrutionalism for collaborative mixed reality laboratory co-creative activities , 2012 .

[6]  Sally A. Applin,et al.  A Cultural Perspective on Mixed , Dual and Blended Reality , 2011 .

[7]  Victor Callaghan,et al.  ViewPoint: An Augmented Reality Tool for Viewing and Understanding Deep Technology , 2013, Intelligent Environments.

[8]  Carlos Delgado Kloos,et al.  Learning a Foreign Language in a Mixed-Reality Environment , 2011, IEEE Internet Computing.

[9]  Woontack Woo,et al.  Virtual Reality in Ubiquitous Computing Environment , 2007, ISUVR.

[10]  P. Milgram,et al.  A Taxonomy of Mixed Reality Visual Displays , 1994 .

[11]  Joseph A. Paradiso,et al.  Dual Reality: Merging the Real and Virtual , 2009, FaVE.

[12]  Hiroshi Ishii,et al.  Tangible bits: towards seamless interfaces between people, bits and atoms , 1997, CHI.

[13]  Victor Callaghan,et al.  Towards the Next Generation of Learning Environments: An InterReality Learning Portal and Model , 2012, 2012 Eighth International Conference on Intelligent Environments.

[14]  Michael Gardner,et al.  Remote Mixed Reality Collaborative Laboratory Activities: Learning Activities within the InterReality Portal , 2012, 2012 IEEE/WIC/ACM International Conferences on Web Intelligence and Intelligent Agent Technology.

[15]  Choonsung Shin,et al.  Ubiquitous Virtual Reality and Its Key Dimension , 2009 .