Future mixed reality educational spaces

TLDR: A future Mixed Reality Space that combines these technologies and will allow both lecturers and students to maintain a joint space supporting the constructivist teaching and the traditional approaches is proposed.

Abstract: This paper outlines a Tele-presence framework to facilitate teaching in future mixed reality spaces. In a world where the increasing use of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) are beginning to compete with traditional university education, due in part to the rapid increase in student fees across the world, is there a middle ground where the advantages of MOOC's can be balanced with advantages of traditional teaching spaces? This future mixed reality space diverges from other Multi-User Virtual Learning Environments (MUVLE) by aiming to create mixed reality spaces in which the lecturer and students can not only be virtually present anywhere in the world, but also be physically present. The work presented here is to discuss the current state of technologies and explore the multiple issues, both social and technical, of providing such a resource to students in the future. The first step in order to create this space was to model a real world location that could also be used as a Mixed Reality Campus; this was carried out using 3D modelling tools and runs a simulation using a game engine that supports the Oculus VR HMD / VIVE HMD. Users would able to explore this space utilising different interfaces, from a desktop interface to a full 3D immersive interface, using the HTC VIVE. Webcams, 360 panorama video and 2D holograms create a shared space that will allow 2D holographic lecturers to be a virtual entity in the real world lecture room. This was achieved using inexpensive reflective films allowing for projection onto glass. This paper proposes a future Mixed Reality Space that combines these technologies and will allow both lecturers and students to maintain a joint space supporting the constructivist teaching and the traditional approaches.