Virtual/Augmented Reality
Virtual and Augmented Reality are becoming the latest trends. It has been around for many years but the price point was not at a consumer level. Now virtual reality can be accomplished with a couple of self made lenses from a 1 liter plastic bottle and some cut up recycled cardboard and your smart phone. Some of you might ask the difference between virtual and augmented reality.
What's the difference?
Virtual Reality - The user is taken to a different computer generated reality.
Augmented Reality - Layers computer generated enhancements over the existing reality.
Virtual Reality Resources
Google Expeditions - Take a virtual field trip almost anywhere in the world!
Below you will find several virtual reality examples intended for you to watch via a pair of virtual reality goggles such as Google Cardboard or any other brand VR goggles. Click here to see a current list of available expeditions. You can also download the app and do a search there as an alternative.
Virtual Field Trip - Arizona State University has a lot of virtual reality field trips. The experiences were made during live expeditions with scientists doing current research in the field of study.
Grand Canyon - Several national parks have virtual reality tours. Just google search the park with the word vr at the end to see if one is available.
YouTube - There are a growing number of great and educational VR videos on YouTube. To find one simply put a keyword into the search bar and add "VR" or/and "360" to the end. Please make sure to preview videos and limit student's time on this resource as they can easily continue on to other videos in their headsets without your knowledge.
A Resource to Watch...
VeeR VR - This looks like a promising platform for VR videos. They have a growing selection of videos and some are educational. Beware: As with any resource there are some videos on this platform that may be inappropriate for students. You may want to create a direct link to a specific video if you plan to use it in class. I have been unable to find a way to turn on a form of restricted mode. That may come in the future.
Riddler's Revenge - Take a virtual ride on the Mega Coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California. Hold on tight and if you start to feel sick just lower the glasses away from your face.
Shark Week - Visit the ocean depths and see what it is like to experience a Great White face to face!
Star Wars - Sorry but we could not give examples with out respecting the FORCE. This was created by several groups. It was not created by Lucas Films.
Wild Elephants in Africa - Who would not want surrounded by Wild Elephants?
ABC News - Now the news is available in VR! How awesome is that? Now you can experience the news live and on location. This would be the safest way to experience North Korea!
Virtual Reality breakout rooms by ThinkLink360 - This is kind of virtual reality and augmented reality coming together. Layers are built into the 360 degree environment.
Augmented Reality Resources
Aurasma - This is one of the easiest to use augmented reality apps. It is available for iOS and Android devices. It works similarly to QR codes but uses images instead. It then lays a video right over the image you selected.