The Future of Learning and Training in an Augmented Reality
Kangdon Lee · InSight A Journal of Scholarly Teaching · 2012
Students acquire knowledge and skills through different modes of instruction that include classroom lectures with textbooks, computers, and the like.The availability and choice of learning innovation depends on the individual's access to technologies and on the infrastructure environment of the surrounding community.In this rapidly changing society, information needs to be adopted and applied at the right time and right place to maintain efficiency in all settings.Augmented reality is one technology that dramatically shifts the timing and location of learning.This paper describes augmented reality, how it applies to learning, and its potential impact on future education. The General Meaning of ARAugmented reality (AR) is a technology that allows computer-generated virtual imagery information to be overlaid onto a live direct or indirect real-world environment in real-time (Azuma, 1997; Zhou, Duh, & Billinghurst, 2008).AR differs from virtual reality (VR) in that VR users experience a computer-generated virtual environment, whereas in AR, the environment is real, but extended with information and imagery from the system.In other words, AR bridges the gap between the real and the virtual in a seamless way (Chang, Morreale, & Medicherla, 2010).To better understand AR, two real-world examples can be taken from televised sporting events to show the basic concept of adding computer-assisted contextual layers of information over the real world, creating a reality that is enhanced or augmented.The first example is the yellow line drawn on the field of an American football game to add virtual information over the real game and show TV viewers a "magic line" that players must reach for the first down.The second example is from car racing, where an annotation provides viewers with additional information on the speed of a competing car.