Current Applications
Extraordinary Immersive 360° Learning Experiences
Field Trip to Mars
American global defense/security giant Lockheed Martin, in partnership with the creative forces at Framestore, developed and launched Field Trip to Mars, a first of its kind immersive VR experience which debuted at the 2016 U.S.A. Science and Engineering Festival in Washington DC.
What makes the virtual field trip truly extraordinary is that students don’t have to wear those bulky VR headsets because the bus itself becomes the VR headset.
The WYSIWYG experience was built on a platform using the Unreal game engine and high def transparent panels replaced the traditional windows on the school bus. Best in class high fi digital audio was added to serve as the sonic cherry on top of a truly sweet first of its kind 360° immersive learning experience.
Watch this in-depth video explaining the gaming based technology used to create this amazing VR field trip experience:
Virtual Labs for Medical Students
The researchers and developers at Z-Space have created active 3D VR learning experiences designed to engage all of the human senses resulting in a much deeper and meaningful learning experience. Take for example medical students who are able to take their 2D anatomy lessons to the next level in a 3D world by applying their knowledge to practice working on virtual cadavers.
From a cost-benefit analysis perspective, consider the time and expense required to set up a traditional cadaver laboratory session. With VR based lessons, medical schools are now able to set up those labs as an on-demand turn-key immersive learning experience.
Unboxing the Sound of Music
with 360° Spacial Audio
Sometimes there’s not a specific learning objective; rather, the learning experience is the result of creative exploration. Within this experimental realm, innovation can be truly groundbreaking.
Recent advancements in the interactive music learning experience fit within the experimental realm by pushing and elevating the boundaries of VR with a sophisticated blend of gaming architecture, machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI).
A particularly noteworthy learning tool, backed by Google, is the Inside Music WebVR immersive experience that brings VR to the web, thereby making it easier for anyone to learn, create, and share VR experiences. The VR tool can even be used on a smartphone or laptop if a VR headset isn’t within reach.
This web-enabled tool allows learners to step inside their favorite song to get a closer look at how music is made. In this way, the learner is able to better understand how a piece of music is layered and composed. And, this VR learning experience has open-source code available on GitHub which allows learners to create innovative music experiments that are not only fully immersive but also interactive.
What makes Inside Music WebVR a truly incredible immersive experience is the development of its spatial audio engine, referred to by Google as “VR’s second sense.” Spatial audio within the VR learning experience is able to capture the attention of the learner in a natural, intuitive way by simulating all aspects of how the learner perceives sound in the real world.
Experience a real-time acoustic environment simulation by watching this video (with headphones) to better understand how the Google VR spatial audio engine works:
Experience Inside Music WebVR’s 360° demo and learn how to unbox sound:
Digital technologies like VR are disrupting how learning is delivered and experienced and also paving the way for next-generation digital-learning products built with ML and AI technologies.
In today’s digital age, the 360° immersive VR learning experience becomes something truly extraordinary!