Introducing Children to Adult Tasks through Virtual Reality

Ted Leath

University of Ulster, Northern Ireland

Introduction

The early introduction of school children to adult tasks through non-immersive virtual reality (VR) should develop dexterity, task-oriented memory and appropriate attitudes while being fun at the same time.

VR allows the provision of a safe environment for children to attempt tasks not safe enough, or appropriate in the real world.

Introduction (continued)

An example project is proposed which will allow the evaluation of the extent to which successful completion of the virtual task translates to competency in the real world task.

Anticipated Benefits

• Children should develop dexterity and spatial awareness through interaction with a virtual world. This dexterity would be advantageous not only in terms of the simulated task, but should also be of benefit in acquiring computer skills, and in understanding metaphorical models.

• Children should develop task-specific competency and memory through repetition and experience. In addition, the exercise of memory should be of general developmental help.

More Anticipated Benefits

• Tasks may be weighted to encourage the development of appropriate attitudes in the hope that these attitudes will become ingrained and carried into adulthood. For example, in the physical world, driving on the wrong side of the road may or may not result in an accident. In a virtual world where there are no enduring consequences (except in the participants memory), driving on the wrong side of the road might always result in an accident.

Environment

• The ubiquity of PCs and networking in schools has made available teaching and learning environments that were hitherto unknown.

• Software tools for the development and display of three-dimensional learning environments or “worlds” are freely available and widely distributed through the Internet.

VRML and VRML “Worlds”• It is proposed that the example project be implemented

through the Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML). VRML is widely supported, inexpensive and accessible.

• VRML is to three-dimensional environments what HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is to two-dimensional web pages. VRML does not execute like software, but is grammatically analysed (parsed) and then displayed. This is most often accomplished through a web browser with “helper” software. The presentation of parsed VRML files is known as a virtual world.

When to use VR in Education

• When a simulation would be used

• When teaching or training using the real thing is:

(a) dangerous(b) impossible(c) inconvenient

When to use VR in Education(continued)

• When mistakes made by the learner or trainee using the real thing could be:

(a) devastating and/or demoralizing to the

learner(b) harmful to the environment(c) capable of causing unintended property

damage(d) capable of causing damage to equipment(e) costly.

When to use VR in Education(continued)

• Teaching tasks involving manual dexterity or physical movement.

• Essential to make learning more interesting and fun, e.g., working with boring material or with students who have attention problems.

Immersive and Non-immersive VR

• Virtual Reality environments divide into two broad categories, immersive and non-immersive.

• Immersive VR uses specialist equipment or physical environment to “immerse” the user in a new sensual reality, completely manipulating senses of vision, sound, touch, and more rarely, smell and taste.

• Non-immersive VR is also known as “through the window” VR since a computer workstation is used to provide a window into the virtual world. user can move about the world using a pointing device like a mouse, or the keyboard.

Use of VR in Education• The first practical use of an educational VR

application that has been identified occurred in 1993.• Twenty applications were expected to have seen

practical use by the end of 1997. Of these, nearly 75% were immersive – requiring specialist equipment.

• Use of both pre-developed VR applications and student development of virtual worlds can be educationally effective. Interactivity seemed to be the key rather than level of immersion.

Use of VR in Education(continued)

• Students enjoy working with virtual worlds and this experience can be highly motivating.

• In practical terms, desktop VR is more suitable for widespread use than immersive VR technology.

Example Project

The example project proposes the creation of a VRML world containing a public telephone callbox. The task chosen involves a child successfully placing a telephone call with all that this involves procedurally including lifting the handset, inserting a coin, entering the correct number and replacing the handset at the end of the simulated phone call.

Example Screens

Elements of the Interface

• Visual movement on depression of touchtone buttons

• Audible touchtones and dial tone• Visual display of numbers as pressed in callbox

window• Speech output on incorrect button depression• Context sensitive help via help button using speech

output• Congratulatory speech output on successful

completion

EvaluationEvaluation will involve two groups of children. One

group will use the VRML world to complete the virtual task a specified number of times. The second group who have not used the VRML world will serve as a control group. Both groups of children will then attempt the real world task. A comparison of each group’s effectiveness in performing the task will be compiled, taking note of:

• Whether or not the task was successfully completed• The nature and number of mistakes made during task

execution• The time required to complete the task successfully

Questions