Extended Reality (XR)

With AR, the user sees the ‘real’ world with an extra layer of information superimposed over it. The user is still in the real world, but visual, auditor or other sensory stimuli are added to reality to give the user more information. AR makes it possible to enrich reality with virtual elements.

With VR, the user enters a virtual environment with scenes and objects that seem real. The user is fully separated from reality, so they have the sense that they are ‘really’ somewhere else, without having to actually go there. VR makes it possible to simulate a 3D world where the user can experience a virtual reality.

MR is a combination of VR and AR. The user sees the ‘real’ world, over which virtual elements are projected. MR users can also interact with the virtual elements.

Several UU colleagues use AR/VR/MR in their education, and are studying its learning potential. Together they have formed a VR/AR Special Interest Group (SIG) as a platform for sharing education and research experiences and encouraging new applications and research projects. If you would like to join this SIG, you can sign up here.

Are you curious about how you can implement AR/VR/MR in your own curriculum? Then find inspiration in the experiences of your colleagues:

Emanuel van Dongen - Practicing trial skills: with toga in the virtual courtroom.  

Kristi Jauregi Ondarra - Uses high immersive virtual reality to enrich foreign language education.

Karin Valkenet - Care providers experience the importance of exercise with the help of mixed/augmented reality.

Would you like to use AR/VR/MR in your teaching practice, but aren’t sure how? A brief consultation can help you develop your ideas. Feel free to contact Teaching Support.

Educate-it has 20 VR goggles (Oculus Quest) to use for educational purposes. If you’d like to borrow VR goggles to try out the technology in your curriculum, then please contact Teaching Support.

Vision
The ability to enrich reality with virtual elements makes AR/VR/MR attractive technologies for an educational setting. Indeed, this enrichment of reality offers endless opportunities to provide students with a learning experience that is not normally feasible (or hardly feasible) in a classroom setting. It is precisely the interactive element that makes AR/VR/MR meaningful for activating education, and can therefore enhance students' learning experience and process.
 
Mission
Support teachers to implement AR/VR/MR in existing education, both in terms of didactics (how does it fit the learning objectives) and technology (what is the right hardware and software). Work with teachers to explore how these technologies can be deployed so that it actually adds value to the student learning experience and process. Staying connected to the changes in these technologies so that we can use them sustainably in education.