While COVID is driving clinical learning to VR, the teaching of human anatomy — which typically takes place in the early years of a medical degree — has already shifted to virtual reality in some universities. Case Western Reserve University’s medical school, for example, had been teaching anatomy on campus through content on Microsoft Hololens, rather than by dissecting cadavers as many universities do. Now, with students unable to come onto campus, the university has shipped headsets to students at home so they can continue learning at home.
The use of AR/VR in educational settings is on the rise, paving the way for new careers and a workforce trained to embrace technology.
If projections stay on track, the global spending on educational AR/VR is expected to rise from $1.8 billion to $12.6 billion over the next four years.
the International Data Corporation (IDC) released a report indicating that the pandemic has fueled an impressive forecast of worldwide expenditures on AR/VR, which are expected to grow from $12 billion in 2020 to $72.8 billion by 2024.
rom completing spinal surgery to training at a high-tech facility, such as the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Davis Global Center, which has AR/VR and holographic technologies among its many offerings.
They’ve had huge success in China, but China is a pretty unique market. In late 2019, they expanded to Korea
the company is partnered with Deutsche Telekom and LG Uplus in Germany and Korea respectively, so it’s not too far a stretch to wager that the US branches of those carriers (T-Mobile and LG Electronics) will form at least part of their US distribution channels.
Finch Technologies makes body-tracking wearable devices to serve as controllers for XR applications and experiences including the recently announced FinchRing (this is the promised cherry on top).
The finger-worn hand tracker is designed to enable convenient and discreet 6-degree-of-freedom controls.
Tagesschau 2025 – an application based on a German news program that will present, among other features, holographic weather forecasts;
Cabada, E., Kurt, E., & Ward, D. (2021). Constructing a campus-wide infrastructure for virtual reality. College & Undergraduate Libraries, 0(0), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/10691316.2021.1881680
As an interdisciplinary hub, academic libraries are uniquely positioned to serve the full lifecycle of immersive environment needs, from development through archiving of successful projects. As and informal learning environment that or discipline neutral and high traffic, the academic library can serve as a clearinghouse for experimentation and transmission of best practices across colleges.
these foundational questions:
1. What VR infrastructure needs do faculty and researchers have?
2. Where is campus support lagging?
3. What current partnerships exist?
4. What and where is the campus level of interest in VR?
As marketing for workshops and programs can be challenging, particularly for large institutions, data was collected on where workshop participants learned about Step Into VR. The responses show that users learned of the workshops from a variety of ways with email ( 41 % ) as the most cited method (Figure 4). These marketing emails were sent through distributed listservs that reached nearly the entire campus population. Facebook was called out specifically and represented the second largest marketing method at 29% with the library website, friends, instructors, and digital signage representing the remaining marketing channels.
While new needs continue to emerge, the typical categories of consultation support observed include:
• Recommendations on hardware selection, such as choosing the best VR headset for viewing class content
• Guidance on developing VR applications that incorporate domain-specific curricular content
• Support for curricular integration of VR
• Recommendations on 360 capture media and equipment for documenting environments or experiences, such as the GoPro Fusion and Insta360 One X
• Advice on editing workflows, including software for processing and rendering of 360 content
Alex Fogarty
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While many library patrons understand the basic concepts of recording video on a camera, 360 cameras present a large divergence from this process in several primary ways. The first is a 360 camera captures every direction at once, so there is no inherent “focus,” and no side of a scene that is not recorded. This significantly changes how someone might compose a video recording, and also adds complexity to post-production, including how to orient viewers within a scene. The second area of divergence is that many of these devices, especially the high-end versions, are recording each lens to a separate data file or memory card and these ftles need to be combined, or “stitched,” at a later time using software specific to the camera. A final concern is that data ftles for high-resolution 3 D capture can be huge, requiring both large amounts of disk space and high-end processors and graphic cards for detailed editing to occur. For example, the Insta360 Pro 2 has 6 sensors all capable of data recording at 120 Mbps for a grand total of 720 Mbps. This translates into 43.2 gigabytes of data for every minute o
My team is investing into the development of STEM Labs for HTC Vive / Oculus Rift and are making them available through the Steam store. This past week, we launched a chemistry experience where students learn to build molecules in a space lab. Our Molecule Builder Lab teaches:
How atoms in a molecule bond
The geometric shape of the molecule
The polarity of the molecule
Since this is an investment we’re making internally, we have made the module available for an accessible cost through the STEAM VR store. I know this group is not for self-promotion, so as a token of appreciation for allowing us to share this information, our team would like to give away up to 10-keys for free for those interested in using this at their academic institutions.
I hope you are all having a great weekend, and again, thank you for allowing us to share this information.
Taqtile had a compelling vision for using the Hololens for digital transformation for industrial frontline workers. The goal was to democratize expertise and make “everyone an expert.”
Taqtile’s content platform is called Manifest. It’s an enterprise platform for knowledge capture and reuse for industrial workers—a tool for structuring the “checklist” items for a particular task. It’s unlike anything we saw in the KM era. Manifest procedures contain instructions, photos, videos, pointers, and the like. If that’s not enough, it can also contact experts in real time—as with the BP Virtual Teamwork system.
Lischer-Katz, Z., & Clark, J. (2021). Institutional Factors Shaping XR Technology Accessibility Policy & Practice in Academic Libraries. Survey. The EDUCAUSE XR (Extended Reality) Community Group Listserv <XR@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU>. https://uarizona.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1Ya9id4uCXoktLv
participate in a survey is being sent out to those responsible for managing and providing XR technologies in academic libraries. This survey is part of a study titled “Institutional Factors Shaping XR Technology Accessibility Policy & Practice in Academic Libraries.” The principal investigator (PI) is Dr. Zack Lischer-Katz, PhD (Assistant Professor, School of Information, University of Arizona) and the co-principal investigator (Co-PI) is Jasmine Clark (Digital Scholarship Librarian, Temple University).
An Institutional Review Board (IRB) responsible for human subjects research at The University of Arizona reviewed this research project and found it to be acceptable, according to applicable state and federal regulations and University policies designed to protect the rights and welfare of participants in research
Please feel free to share this survey widely with colleagues.
Introduction
Over the past five years, many academic libraries have begun systematically integrating innovative technologies, including virtual reality (VR) and other “XR” technologies, into their spaces and services. Even though schools, libraries, and the library profession all stress equitable access to information and technology for all community members, accessibility – understood in terms of the design of spaces, services, and technologies to support users with disabilities – is rarely given sufficient consideration when it comes to the design, implementation, and administration of XR technology programs. Because XR technologies engage the body and multiple senses they show great potential for providing enhanced means for disabled users to access information resources; however, without accessibility policies in place, the embodied aspects of XR technologies can create new barriers (e.g., chairs and other furniture that cannot be adapted, controllers that cannot be adjusted for different degrees of dexterity, etc.)
Purpose of the study
The purpose of this study is to develop new understanding about the current landscape of accessibility policies and practices for XRtechnology programs and to understand the barriers to adoption of XR accessibility policies and practices.
The main research objective is to understand what policies and practices are currently in place in academic libraries and their level of development, the existing beliefs and knowledge of library staff and administrators involved with XR technology programs and spaces, and the institutional factors that shape the adoption of accessibility policies for XR technology programs.
The survey will be open from February 1, 2021 to April 30, 2021. More information regarding confidentiality and consent can be found at the beginning of the survey.
