Introduction to the Future of Education
Education has been a recurring theme throughout the various programs of the NYC Media Lab, a public-private partnership where I function an Executive Director. How will virtual and augmented reality change the classroom? How can teachers use immersive media to coach residents and keep our communities vibrant? In what ways can enterprises leverage innovation to higher train employees and streamline workflows? These are only a number of of the top-of-mind questions that NYC Media Lab’s consortium is eager about as we enter the subsequent wave of media transformation.
The Impact of Virtual and Augmented Reality on Learning
Researchers and professionals at work across the VR/AR community in New York City are excited for what comes next. At NYC Media Lab’s recent Exploring Future Reality conference, long-time educators including Agnieszka Roginska of New York University and Columbia University’s Steven Feiner pointed to emerging media as a option to improve multi-modal learning for college students and train computer systems to grasp the world around us. The hope is that virtual and augmented reality technologies will show an effect on learning within the upcoming yr, including increasing engagement and retention and providing teachers and content creators with exciting latest tools.
About the NYC Media Lab
NYC Media Lab merges engineering and design research happening at town’s universities with resources and opportunities from the media and technology industry—to supply latest prototypes, launch latest firms and advocate for the newest pondering. In the past yr, the Lab has accomplished dozens of rapid prototyping projects; exhibited tons of of demos from the company, university and entrepreneurship communities; helped latest startups make their mark; and hosted three major events, all to explore emerging media technologies and their evolving impact.
Notable Projects in Education
Of the various projects, collaborations and concepts to emerge from the Lab that must do with education, a number of particularly stand out:
Kiwi: Mobile AR for High School Students
Kiwi, a mobile application built by students at The School of Visual Arts and Columbia University, believes that schools and their wireless networks have to be able to support the newest technology. The logic behind Kiwi is easy: when students are using technology, they’re in an lively role quite than a passive role as recipients of data. Kiwi enhances learning experiences by encouraging lively participation with AR and social media. A student can use their smartphone or tablet to scan physical textbooks and unlock learning assistance tools, like highlighting, note creation and sharing, videos and AR guides—all features that encourage peer-to-peer learning.
Street Smarts VR: Training and Simulations for Police
Street Smarts VR is a startup that’s working to supply solutions for a significant issue facing America’s communities: conflicts between law enforcement officials and residents. The company is producing fully immersive, room scale VR experiences in an effort to vary the best way our police are trained. Founded at Columbia Business School by two former law officers who later accomplished NYC Media Lab’s Combine accelerator program, the corporate’s leadership is leveraging their personal experiences to maneuver beyond traditional education.
Bloomberg AR for Enterprise Fellowship: AR for the Workplace
Education doesn’t stop within the classroom, and today’s media and technology executives need to grasp latest tools in the event that they are to avoid wasting time, motivate growth and improve worker performance. NYC Media Lab recently collaborated with Bloomberg and the augmented reality startup Lampix on a fellowship program to ascertain the longer term of learning within the workplace. Lampix technology looks prefer it sounds: a lamp-like hardware that projects AR capabilities, turning any flat surface into one which can visualize data and present collaborative workflows.
Calling Thunder: The Unsung History of Manhattan
Immersive media is transformative in that it allows individuals to experience worlds lost to time. Calling Thunder: The Unsung History of Manhattan, a project that got here out of a recent fellowship program with A+E Networks, re-imagines a time before industrialization, when the City we all know now was lush with forests, freshwater ponds, and wildlife. The piece incorporates elegant sound design with narration and visuals of key locations across the island. Investing in sound technology, in accordance with Calling Thunder producer David Al-Ibrahim, is critical for producing premium experiences as lackluster audio can easily break our sense of reality.
Conclusion
These 4 very different projects point to the longer term of education. Virtual and augmented reality technologies will proceed to change into more widely adopted in the approaching years — and technologists will find latest opportunities and challenges on the intersection of immersive media and education. As we move forward, it can be exciting to see how these technologies proceed to shape the best way we learn and interact with the world around us. With the potential to extend engagement, retention, and understanding, virtual and augmented reality are sure to have a long-lasting impact on the longer term of education.
