{"391741":{"#nid":"391741","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Augmented Reality: Teaching Kids About Their World","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EHow do you teach kids about unseen forces? For example, the force that causes a ball to roll down a ramp. Teachers use demonstrations, experiments, and of course textbooks. Now, Georgia Tech and \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.verizon.com\/about\/responsibility\/education\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EVerizon Foundation\u003C\/a\u003E want to add augmented reality to the list.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/imtc.gatech.edu\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EInteractive Media Technology Center (IMTC)\u003C\/a\u003E is developing and testing a prototype of an augmented reality mobile application. Its purpose: get kids excited about STEM education by using fun, interactive and compelling experiences. IMTC recently tested the prototype with kids ranging from six to 14 years old. They tested four demos \u0026ndash; cubes (learning how to calculate volume and density), a train (setting up an experiment and testing hypotheses about forces and mass), a catapult (understanding the paths of projectiles), and lasers (teaching optics via a game controlled by virtual light beams, mirrors, and prisms). The app is designed as a collaborative, social experience, which enhances learning.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cstrong\u003EWATCH:\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=BgPF6FTlEcg\u0026amp;feature=youtu.be\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EA demo of IMTC\u0026#39;s augmented reality mobile app\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAugmented reality, or AR, is overlaying virtual information on the physical world. This typically means visual information delivered through a handheld device like a tablet, phone or head-mounted display. Sports fans see it on television all the time \u0026ndash; on the football field marking a first down or tracking a swimmer as she glides through the pool.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026ldquo;What\u0026rsquo;s great about those augmentations is they\u0026rsquo;re so elegantly integrated into the physical world,\u0026rdquo; said Maribeth Gandy, director of the IMTC. \u0026ldquo;They look like they\u0026rsquo;re part of the field, they look like they\u0026rsquo;re coming up out of the goal post, they\u0026rsquo;re attached to the NASCAR as it\u0026rsquo;s moving around. It doesn\u0026rsquo;t just look cool; it provides real value. It reduces the cognitive load that it requires for you to interpret the information.\u0026rdquo;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGandy said a lot of kids are technologically savvy and have already experienced AR in their daily lives through video games and mobile apps. So the challenge is producing a prototype that\u0026rsquo;s polished, educational and engaging. Feedback from the kids is invaluable.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We forget that they\u0026rsquo;re cognitively different, they\u0026rsquo;re physically different, their mental model of how technology works or how the world works is really different,\u0026rdquo; said Gandy. \u0026ldquo;They didn\u0026rsquo;t understand things that seem obvious to an adult - like why the train didn\u0026rsquo;t go the same distance every time no matter how much stuff you put in the bed of the train - because they don\u0026rsquo;t have an intuition about physics the way that older kids or adults do.\u0026rdquo;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAnother hurdle is the handheld aspect. Researchers used a tablet for testing, but discovered that some of the younger kids struggled to hold it because they have small hands.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGandy and her team will now take the data they collected, make tweaks and eventually make the app available to the public. They\u0026rsquo;ll also create physical and virtual \u0026ldquo;exploration kits\u0026rdquo; for students in \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.verizon.com\/about\/responsibility\/education\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EVerizon\u0026rsquo;s Innovative Learning Schools\u003C\/a\u003E and other schools across the country. Augmentations will be personalized to each student, with grade-appropriate content.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026ldquo;The opportunity for today\u0026rsquo;s students to better understand complex STEM concepts is so important,\u0026rdquo; said Kristin Townsend, Manager - CSR Program Development, Verizon Foundation.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026ldquo;Leveraging technology to help students not only understand but see everyday examples of STEM principles in their lives not only facilitates learning, but it inspires students to consider STEM fields that tend to be very abstract.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech\u2019s Interactive Media Technology Center (IMTC) is developing and testing a prototype of an augmented reality mobile application."}],"uid":"27980","created_gmt":"2015-03-30 15:10:02","changed_gmt":"2019-07-11 14:47:28","author":"Alyson Key","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-03-30T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-03-30T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"391761":{"id":"391761","type":"image","title":"Students play with augmented reality prototype designed by IMTC for Verizon Foundation","body":null,"created":"1449246332","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:25:32","changed":"1475895078","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:51:18","alt":"Students play with augmented reality prototype designed by IMTC for Verizon Foundation","file":{"fid":"75566","name":"screen_shot_2015-03-25_at_10.56.54_am.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/screen_shot_2015-03-25_at_10.56.54_am.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/screen_shot_2015-03-25_at_10.56.54_am.png","mime":"image\/png","size":2102243,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/screen_shot_2015-03-25_at_10.56.54_am.png?itok=zk-XAZt-"}}},"media_ids":["391761"],"groups":[{"id":"69599","name":"IPaT"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"42901","name":"Community"},{"id":"42911","name":"Education"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"143","name":"Digital Media and Entertainment"}],"keywords":[{"id":"181703","name":"HTF"},{"id":"10553","name":"app"},{"id":"1597","name":"Augmented Reality"},{"id":"122861","name":"IMTC"},{"id":"122851","name":"Interactive Media Technology Center"},{"id":"96091","name":"Maribeth Gandy"},{"id":"34741","name":"mobile app"},{"id":"167258","name":"STEM"},{"id":"122871","name":"Verizon Foundation"},{"id":"122881","name":"Verizon Innovative Learning Schools"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAlyson Powell\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EInstitute for People and Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["alyson.powell@ipat.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}