Simulating educational physical experiments in augmented reality

We present an augmented reality application for mechanics education. It utilizes a recent physics engine developed for the PC gaming market to simulate physical experiments in the domain of mechanics in real time. Students are enabled to actively build own experiments and study them in a three-dimensional virtual world. A variety of tools are provided to analyze forces, mass, paths and other properties of objects before, during and after experiments. Innovative teaching content is presented that exploits the strengths of our immersive virtual environment. PhysicsPlayground serves as an example of how current technologies can be combined to deliver a new quality in physics education.

[1]  Marilyn C. Salzman,et al.  ScienceSpace: virtual realities for learning complex and abstract scientific concepts , 1996, Proceedings of the IEEE 1996 Virtual Reality Annual International Symposium.

[2]  Dieter Schmalstieg,et al.  Designing Immersive Virtual Reality for Geometry Education , 2006, IEEE Virtual Reality Conference (VR 2006).

[3]  Dieter Schmalstieg,et al.  Mathematics and geometry education with collaborative augmented reality , 2003, Comput. Graph..

[4]  Howard Rheingold,et al.  Virtual Reality , 1991 .

[5]  Fabrizia Mantovani,et al.  12 VR Learning: Potential and Challenges for the Use of 3D Environments in Education and Training , 2003 .

[6]  Nicoletta Adamo-Villani,et al.  An immersive virtual environment for learning sign language mathematics , 2006, SIGGRAPH '06.

[7]  Ambjörn Naeve,et al.  CyberMath - Exploring Open Issues in VR-based Learning , 2001, SIGGRAPH 2001.

[8]  Christine M. Byrne Water on tap: the use of virtual reality as an educational tool , 1996 .

[9]  Dieter Schmalstieg,et al.  The Studierstube Augmented Reality Project , 2002, Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments.

[10]  T. Pintaric,et al.  Affordable Infrared-Optical Pose-Tracking for Virtual and Augmented Reality , 2007 .

[11]  C. Poole,et al.  Classical Mechanics, 3rd ed. , 2002 .

[12]  Sabri Serkan Gulluoglu,et al.  The future Of technology based education on different branches of science: A conceptual basis for educational applications of virtual reality , 2010 .

[13]  W. Walcher Physik. Ein Lehrbuch zum Gebrauch neben Vorlesungen von Ch. Gerthsen. Springer‐Verlag, Berlin, Göttingen, Heidelberg, 1956. 4. Aufl., XV, 545 S., 647 Abb., geb. DM 29.80 , 1956 .

[14]  Hannes Kaufmann,et al.  Summary of Usability Evaluations of an Educational Augmented Reality Application , 2007, HCI.

[15]  C. Gerthsen,et al.  Physik: Ein Lehrbuch Zum Gebrauch Neben Vorlesungen , 1993 .

[16]  Michael Gervautz,et al.  The Personal Interaction Panel – a Two‐Handed Interface for Augmented Reality , 1997, Comput. Graph. Forum.

[17]  Nicoletta Adamo-Villani,et al.  SMILE: an immersive learning game for deaf and hearing children , 2007, SIGGRAPH '07.