Researching informal gameplay can be challenging, since as soon as a formal study design is imposed, it becomes neither casual nor self-motivated. As a case study of a non-invasive design, we analyze publicly posted gameplay videos to assess the effectiveness of a physics educational video game on special relativity. These videos offer unique insights into informal learning through gaming, as players do not only describe the gameplay mechanics, but also explore physics concepts in a think-aloud fashion while they ponder the experience and effects. We find that while this methodology has substantial limitations, it is complementary when it comes to assessing motivations and attitudes, as well as to gathering data on conceptual hurdles.

Informal physics learning from video games: a case study using gameplay videos

This paper examines how humans adapt to novel physical situations with unknown gravitational acceleration in immersive virtual environments. We designed four virtual reality experiments with different tasks for participants to complete: strike a ball to hit a target, trigger a ball to hit a target, predict the landing location of a projectile, and estimate the flight duration of a projectile. The first two experiments compared human behavior in the virtual environment with real-world performance reported in the literature. The last two experiments aimed to test the human ability to adapt to novel gravity fields by measuring their performance in trajectory prediction and time estimation tasks. The experiment results show that: 1) based on brief observation of a projectile's initial trajectory, humans are accurate at predicting the landing location even under novel gravity fields, and 2) humans' time estimation in a familiar earth environment fluctuates around the ground truth flight duration, although the time estimation in unknown gravity fields indicates a bias toward earth's gravity.

The Martian: Examining Human Physical Judgments across Virtual Gravity Fields

This review presents an overview and analysis of the body of research on special relativity theory (SRT) education at the secondary and lower undergraduate level. There is currently a growing international interest in implementing SRT in pre-university education as a first introduction to modern physics. For this reason, insights into learning opportunities and challenges in SRT education are needed. Currently, studies on this topic are sparse, especially at the level of secondary education, and there is a need for a general overview and synthesis of the results reported. We have selected 39 articles and categorized them according to reported learning difficulties, teaching approaches and research tools. Analysis shows that students at all educational levels experience learning difficulties with the use of frames of reference, the postulates of SRT and relativistic effects. In the reported teaching sequences, instructional materials and learning activities, this problem is approached from different angles. Some teaching approaches focus on thought experiments to express conceptual features of SRT, while others use virtual environments to provide realistic visualization of relativistic effects. Finally, we show that students' conceptual understanding of SRT is measured primarily by means of thought experiments. The reported thought experiments can be grouped into five categories related to basic concepts from Galilean relativity and SRT. More research is needed to investigate how learning activities and multimedia tools can be used to support students' reasoning with the conceptual features of SRT.

Teaching and learning special relativity theory in secondary and lower undergraduate education: A literature review

Currently, computer‐based training systems, such as virtual laboratories (VLs), are becoming more common not only in universities but also in secondary schools. For physics, VLs are of great importance, as they allow simulating processes that cannot be seen or reproduced. Technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) help us to create such physical visualizations. This study presents a VL, which allows users to solve various physical practical tasks or problems with the help of three‐dimensional process visualizations performed in three different ways, namely desktop VR, AR, and VR using a Leap Motion controller. This study describes in detail the functionality and implementation of a VL. As an experiment, three schools were provided with the necessary equipment and software. Fifty pupils of the 9th grade used the developed VL for half of the academic year, after which they took part in a comprehensive survey. About 88% of them found the laboratory useful for studying physics. The children were satisfied with its functionality and usability. Interviews with teachers helped us to understand which of the three visualization methods is preferable for them and children in the present environment.

Augmented and virtual reality for physics: Experience of Kazakhstan secondary educational institutions

We describe algorithms that produce accurate real-time interactive in-space views of the eight Thurston geometries using ray-marching. We give a theoretical framework for our algorithms, independent of the geometry involved. In addition to scenes within a geometry $X$, we also consider scenes within quotient manifolds and orbifolds $X / \Gamma$. We adapt the Phong lighting model to non-euclidean geometries. The most difficult part of this is the calculation of light intensity, which relates to the area density of geodesic spheres. We also give extensive practical details for each geometry.

Ray-marching Thurston geometries.

We present OpenRelativity, an open-source toolkit to simulate effects of special relativity within the popular Unity game engine. Intended for game developers, educators, and anyone interested in physics, OpenRelativity can help people create, test, and share experiments to explore the effects of special relativity. We describe the underlying physics and some of the implementation details of this toolset with the hope that engaging games and interactive relativistic “laboratory” experiments might be implemented.

Visualizing relativity: The OpenRelativity project

The understanding of many aspects of astronomy is closely linked with relativity and the finite speed of light, yet relativity is generally not discussed in great detail during planetarium shows for the general public. One reason may be the difficulty to visualize these phenomena in a way that is appropriate for planetariums; another may be their distance from everyday experiences that makes it hard for audiences to connect with the presentation. In this paper, we describe an effort to visualize special relativity phenomena in an immersive “everyday” scenario. In order to bring special relativity to human scale, we simulate a universe in which the speed of light is slower, so that “everyday” speeds become relativistic. We describe the physics and the technical details of our first planetarium show, “Einstein’s Playground,” which premiered at the Museum of Science, Boston.

Zachary W. Sherin

Papers

Visualizing relativity: The OpenRelativity project

“Einstein’s Playground”: An Interactive Planetarium Show on Special Relativity