iLRN2021 7th International Conference of the Immersive Learning Research Network

Presentations

Gamifying Digital Eleon
Jordan Tynes, Bryan Burns
Wellesley College, United States of America
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In development since 2016, Digital Eleon is a pedagogical virtual reality experience based on the current excavations of the Eastern Boeotia Archaeological Project (EBAP) at ancient Eleon in central Greece. The goal of Digital Eleon is to immerse users within aspects of the excavation process and make meaningful connections between the various areas of research conducted at the site. Through several phases of development, Digital Eleon users can tour the site, interact with excavated objects, visualize restoration of exposed architecture, and read background information about these various aspects of the project. This VR experience has been integrated into several classroom lesson plans, each time receiving feedback from students and other users, which has then informed the changes to succeeding versions. The lead development team is incorporating aspects of game design to make the experience of Digital Eleon more intuitive for both new and experienced VR users.
This presentation will briefly describe the overarching goals of Digital Eleon, including an overview of ancient Eleon’s settlement and funerary remains, and then focus on each version of the VR experience as it has evolved to address distinct educational objectives. The iterative development process parallels both the improvements to VR technology and our team’s understanding of techniques for enhancing the learning experience for VR users. We will share the ways that Digital Eleon can facilitate intuitive interactivity with data representative of vastly different scales, from large geographic terrain to small fragile objects, and highlight the unique learning opportunity created by this interactive visualization. Finally, we will demonstrate several features of the most recent version of Digital Eleon, which includes a “tutorial area” similar to those found in many popular digital games, offering a method for other developers to borrow insights from game design in their own approach to creating educational VR content.


Studio X: Experience, Explore, Experiment through XR at the University of Rochester
Meaghan Moody, Emily Sherwood
University of Rochester, United States of America
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As the hub for extended reality (XR) at the University of Rochester, Studio X fosters a community of cross-disciplinary collaboration, exploration, and peer-to-peer learning that lowers barriers to entry, inspires experimentation, and drives innovative research and teaching in immersive technologies. User research and needs analysis conducted in 2017 articulated a demand for an interdisciplinary space and program to support the university’s growing XR initiative. Over 60 faculty across 16 academic departments use these technologies in their research and leverage XR to enhance teaching and learning, recreate historical sites, improve virtual reality (VR) optics, and beyond. A central program and space housed in the library will help to facilitate the interdisciplinary collaboration and community that immersive technologies require. Furthermore, Studio X will engage new users of these technologies, introducing XR platforms and tools to students and thereby preparing them for higher-level coursework and potential careers.
In this presentation, we will provide an overview of the planned 3,000-square-foot space slated to open in fall 2021. We will discuss the history of the program and the research undertaken to develop Studio X. We will outline the different spaces available for collaboration, learning, and inspiration within Studio X as well as describe the expertise, technologies, and programming that will support users and foster a community of practice for XR.