HoloLens, HTC Vive, and Final Thoughts

Day 5: HoloLens, HTC Vive, and Final Thoughts

On our final class session, our professor brought in a pair of Microsoft HoloLens for us to try.  Before this class, I did not even know this type of technology existed!  When I first saw the promotion video for this device, I thought to myself, “There’s no way they could invent something like this.  I can only see the movies doing this!”  Once I tried it on, I thought differently.  Although the device was a little on bulky, it was really cool to be able to walk around an object that is not really there.  The HoloLens responded to my voice as well as my hand motions to select different options.  It did look a little funny when I watched my classmates use the devices as they moved their arms and tried to touch the empty space in front of them. 

We also tried the HTC Vive.  This was a headset with high quality PC-based VR and has much better quality and immersion than the Oculus DK2 that we tried earlier in the quarter.  The feel of the HTC Vive was similar to the HoloLens but was not as clear in terms of the quality of the picture.  I did enjoy the fact that this device included the two wireless controllers, one for each hand.  The controllers made it seem like it was more of a game while the HoloLens is more applicable for everyday life. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the Virtual Reality/ Augmented Reality class.  It was eye opening to see a lot of technology that I could never imagine.  I was also amused at the fact that VR/AR could be implemented in so many professions.   I was able to try a couple of the apps with my students and it definitely caught their attention instantly.  They were extremely excited that they could use their mobile devices in class and kept asking if I could show them more! 

Find out more about how to incorporate virtual reality and augmented reality in your classroom!

Unity3D

Day 4: Unity3D

Unity 3D was the last software that was introduced for this course.   This program was a game engine that allowed users to create their own game scenes. 

Click here for a quick example on unity.

This program was much more complicated to use and I had difficulty getting the three dimensional object created on SketchUp to import to Unity.  Since the house I created during the previous class session used specific materials for the walls and roof, it did not fully transfer all the materials that were used.  Therefore, most of the walls and roofing did not show properly on Unity3D.  I wished there was a way for SketchUp to save the 3D image into a file that is equivalent to PDF so that every component is not lost. 

Other than not being able to use the materials that I originally wanted, I had to think a scene that would be applicable in my own professional field.  Since my 6^th grade students were starting a short unit on geometric shapes, I thought it would be perfect to set up a scene that included three-dimensional shapes for my students to explore.  First, I set up a terrain and placed agriculture and hills all over to make the terrain look more lively.  Then I placed the house that was created from the SketchUp activity so that my first person perspective could walk out of.  Afterwards, I placed my geometric shapes all over my terrain to allow my students to walk around the terrain and explore the different shapes.  Finally, I added park ambience music to make the environment more realistic.  I also embed directions at the beginning of the scene as well as audio descriptions for each shape so that the user could hear what each geometric shape is as they walked closer to each object.  The following picture is a scene that I created for this lab. 

Unity 3D can be used as an educational resource as well as many other career paths.  I can see it being used for real estate or interior design to show customers what the houses look like on the inside.  It can also be used as a tour for students to be familiar with a new campus.

In my opinion, I do not think that I can fully utilize Unity3D to its full potential in my own classroom.  However, I believe that it is a great program for our computers class to provide an opportunity for our students to express themselves through a venue that is creative and interesting to today’s kids.

Here is what a scene might look like in first person perspective. 

Sketch Up

Day 3: Sketch Up

On our third session, we tried a different program call SketchUp.  I had no experience with this program and had no idea what to do when I first opened the software.  As I looked closely at the tool bar, I realized that some of the icons looked very familiar to Geogebra, a software I used frequently as a math teacher.  From there, I knew that I was creating shapes that would eventually make up a three-dimensional shape. 

Click here for a quick video of an example of using SketchUp

For that specific class session, our professor told us that we would make a house.  We started with basic rectangles to get the foundation on the object.  Then we pulled the rectangles out with the push/pull tool to create the outer walls of the house.  It was a little challenging at first and I made a lot of mistakes that required myself to start over a couple of times.  However, it was rewarding when I saw the end product and even created a swimming pool in the back to enhance the house.    

We continued to work with SketchUp the next week and created an apartment from a floor plan.  I thought this was pretty amazing to be able to turn a two dimensional floor plan into a three dimensional apartment.  I saw this very useful for contractors, interior design, real estate agents, …etc.  I personally did not see this software to be useful in my profession, but I did show this program to our site technology instructor and she loved it!  She thought that it was easy enough for middle school students to understand and create a simple house.  The instructor was excited to show her students and the students were able to create their own houses just in time our Open House.  The students were excited to be able to share something they created on the computer that was personalized with different colors, designs, and decorations.  Parents were also amused by the fact that their child was able a piece of artwork that looked very complex and professional. 

Overall, I thought this was a great tool to introduce students and other new users the basics for creating a three dimensional shape.  Students can definitely extend their knowledge into more difficult programs after mastering SketchUp.

Click here for some excellent tutorials to help you get started with the software.

Aurasam

Day 2: Aurasma

Our next session introduced a program call Aurasma.  Aurasma was an app that permitted any user to create their own augmented reality. 

Click here for a quick video of how augmented reality works on TED talk. 

I watched a couple of the tutorials and promotions on their website and wasn’t able to come up with a way to incorporate this program to my own classroom.  After I pondered on it for a while, I realized that I could use it in my profession every day!  Since my students struggled with completing their homework on their own, I decided to use Aurasma to provide quick tutorials on difficult problems.  This allowed my students to use Aurasma to get help at home if needed.  Also, it is very common for my students to be absent from class.  Therefore, I took pictures of my finished notes so that students would be able to see the notes and not be too far behind when they came back.  Since there was only about a month left of school, I did not get to try it enough to get a strong feeling about it.  However, based on the feedback I received from some of my students, it seemed like they found it helpful to be able to get instant assistance on their homework assignments.  In addition, they expressed that it was fun and entertaining to play with even if they didn’t need the help. 

Overall, I thought this program was great and I would try it more often next school year before I can fully implement it into my practices.  I was also told that one of my classmates used Aurasma to record her students’ presentations so that the parents could see it during Open House as if they were in a live museum.  I also enjoyed this discovery because it could easily be used in any profession and could personalized their own video to make it fit for their stakeholders.

Click here for more ideas on how to implement Aurasma in your classroom!

Story Sphere/ YouVisit

In our GED 550 class, we learned a new tool call Story Sphere.  This was a resource that allowed anyone to create their own 360°experience.  We had a chance to play around with this program through a lab with our instructor and got familiar with the different features that it offered.  As an assignment, we had to create our own 360° experience using this program.  I decided to create one of my classroom during Open House.  Before the parents and students came into explore, I took a 360° photo of my classroom using Google maps and imported the picture to Story Sphere.  After I recorded several audio clips from Audacity, the assembling was extremely easy to do. 

If you would like to check out my Story Sphere, click here.

In addition, my group decided to explore other options that also allow users to create their own 360° experience.  We came across a program call YouVisit.  We really enjoyed this resource because they have numerous pre-made experiences for us to use without the hassle of creating our own.  Especially since two out of the three of us were educators, we found it most useful in our profession!  It was a little difficult to find videos related to math (since I’m a middle school math teacher), but I was able to find a lot of experience for colleges.  This was perfect for my school site because our district pushed a lot of college and career program.  Since our school did not have enough money to send our students to different campuses, this was a perfect solution to still give our students a tour of college campuses. 

Finally, we were introduced to a device call Google Cardboard which was very affordable to purchase.  One of our classmates went on Amazon and bought it for about $15.  Since both of these programs were easily used on any mobile device, the Google Cardboard was also compatible, which made the experience that much more real!