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Virtual Reality in a Shoebox - 22 January 2020

(Updated 24 January 2020 - addendum at the bottom)

This was the tweet that started it all... Ok, technically Greg's tweet was the one that started it all. Either way, this idea came across my desk in early August of this year and my brain started flying a million miles an hour with things we could do with this...

Gone are the days of the old school dioramas! While they served a purpose, making them into a virtual reality experience could be far more engaging and a much deeper learning experience for our students!

My thoughts immediately went to one of our world language teachers, who has had a project where students get to design the bedroom of his/her/their dreams, create a top down image of the layout on paper, and then use targeted lesson vocabulary to take us on a tour of their dream room. Transforming this into a VR experience not only allows viewers to move at his/her/their own pace, but also takes some stress off the "live speaking part" for those students who aren't as comfortable being the physical center of attention.

That teacher was totally game to try this out with her students, and to her credit, she offered this platform as one of three possible options for her students to pick from... #StudentChoice #StudentVoice all the way!

I can't wait to see the final products, and know that other teachers are going to be jumping on board with this

To help visualize what the final product might look like, I created a sample VR in a Shoebox tour. You are more than welcome to check it out!!

Interested?

Let's see how it's done!

What you will need

360* camera - We used a Ricoh Theta V, but darn near any 360* camera will do. Using an app (like Google's Street View) to stitch together multiple images may not work here due to the small environment you'll be working in
Shoe boxes - As an alternative you could use the boxes that reams of paper are shipped in... as an added bonus, if you're a little creative you can get TWO "shoeboxes" out of ONE copy box!!
Tour Creator turned on from your Google Admin Console
Chromebook/Windows/Mac device - I'm not aware of an app version of Tour Creator, so while you could build within the Safari app on an iPad, I think using a Chromebook/Laptop/Desktop/etc. might be easier.
Various crafts materials (paper, scissors, tape/glue, colored pencils, markers, crayons, etc.)
CAD drawings of various pieces of furniture - It may be helpful to share these as a digital file with your students. That way they only print what they need (and they can also use something like Google Drawing to adjust the scale of the object and color it in!)
(Optional) Access to recording mp3 audio files - At this time, only mp3 files can be used as narration within Tour Creator. We like the site online-voice-recorder.com. It's simple to use, trim, and save the files as mp3 files.

The Process

First, and foremost, I would think the best place to start is to get a little comfortable with Google's Tour Creator; just the basic things like:

Adding a scene
Adding points of interest (as an added bonus, look at adding an image an audio file to the POI)
How to publish the tour

If you are not already familiar with how to do these things, a little bit of button smashing will most likely get you there... but if not, I've included a video tutorial series on Tour Creator below (you can also access the series via this link). Remember, if Tour Creator has not been turned on in the Admin Console for your domain, you can always learn using a personal gmail address.

Step 1: Build Your Shoebox Diorama

An important thing to remember about this build... traditionally dioramas have been built with the shoe box on its side so you can look into it in a "cave-like fashion". For this project, I would recommend building with the shoe box in a "traditional upright orientation". I've included a picture to the right of the shoebox I built for my sample tour.

I used 2-dimensional objects placed directly on the wall for my various fixtures, knowing I was planning on super-imposing images once the picture was placed into the Tour Creator platform. It is possible to place objects on the "floor" of the room, but be mindful of two things:

You need to leave room in the center of the shoe box to cut a hole to thread the 360* camera up through (even as an adult, I almost stabbed myself with the scissors... BE CAREFUL!!)
Anything between the camera lens and the wall could possibly block the user from seeing items "behind" it/on the wall.

Remember, just because this shoebox doesn't look "busy" or "exciting" doesn't mean your final product will be dull... the magic comes once you start building your VR tour!

Step 2: Snap Your 360* Picture

Now that you have your environment all built, and the hold cut in the bottom of the shoebox, it's time to take your picture. There are are bunch of different ways this can be done; let me share some things we learned while using the Theta V:

It is possible to set the camera into the shoebox and snap a pic (thus eliminating the need to cut a hole). We found that getting the center of the camera lens as close to the vertical center of your shoebox as possible results in the best picture. Due to the physical height of the Theta V, we found the center hole was necessary. A smaller 360* camera, like the Samsung Gear 360, might work out better for this.
When taking the picture, it is helpful to place the shoebox overhanging the edge of a tall countertop or desk. This allows you to rest the shoebox on the ledge while having the camera threaded through the floor, and gives you a rough gauge of how vertically and horizontally straight the camera is inside the shoebox.
Duck down when you go to take the picture... otherwise you end up with a 360* shot with at least one large head peaking up over the top of the wall... FEE-FI-FO-FUM!!!!
If you have the ability to connect your 360* to a phone or tablet, the ability to preview your shot before you take it is very helpful.
Setting the shutter to be on a time delay also allows you to set the camera in place and move your hand before the shot is taken. At first I thought the Theta V requires the camera to be connected to a mobile device to have a delayed shutter option, but a quick Google search showed that holding the power button AND the wifi button on start up causes the power light to turn green, and sets a 5 second shutter delay.
While I normally turn off the shutter sound on our Theta V (because it sounds a little weird and can get annoying), it might be helpful to turn a shutter sound on so you actually know once the picture has been taken. This is especially helpful if using a delayed shutter feature (Tip #5).

Step 3: Share the 360* Picture With Your Students

This part again depends on which camera you are using, along with a host of other variables. Since we did not have a device to connect the camera to (since the teacher didn't want to give her students her phone... makes sense), here is what we did:

Take pictures using the Theta V camera
Once a series of pictures were taken (a single class or entire day's worth) the images were transferred from the camera to my phone
The images were uploaded to a folder on Google Drive
That folder was shared with view access with the classroom teacher, who in turn posted the link in her Schoology courses (Learning Management System utilized by the district)
The students would access the shared folder to find his/her/their 360* picture
- If students are on a Chromebook they can upload a picture from Shared with me directly into a scene within Tour Creator
  - Students also have the option of "Add to My Drive" for his/her/their specific picture to make it a little easier to find when uploading
- Google Drive is not an upload location when using a non-Chromebook, so Windows/Mac users would need to download the image to the device's local storage, and then upload the file form the local storage within Tour Creator

Step 4: Create Your Virtual Reality Tour in Google's Tour Creator

It's time to get building! If you, or your students need any help navigating the Tour Creator platform you are welcome to use the tutorial video playlist referenced earlier in this post.

Some things to keep in mind as you build a tour:

It is totally possible to have multiple scenes within a single tour... which means you can have multiple rooms, go wild!
It is possible to super-impose images over a point of interest. While you cannot rotate the image (as far as I know), you can move and resize the virtual image. This all means the virtual image may not line up perfectly due to the "curve" of the image and the software not always being in sync... if you need an example, look at the clock in my example above.
If using audio recordings, it is helpful to record individual recordings for each intended point of interest, with no intended order between points. Remember, the beauty behind this is the viewer can navigate at his/her/their own pace and direction.
Remember, these audio tracks are where your students can really demonstrate his/her/their understanding... don't be afraid to ask for at least ONE audio recording!!
Speaking of audio, it is possible to attach audio files to the entire scene, which can act as ambient sounds. While this may sound nice, this "ambient sound" will continue to play at the same volume even if audio from a point of interest is activated... this means you could have multiple audio tracks playing simultaneously.

Step 5: Share the Amazing Products!

The tours have been built and published... now it's time to share them out!

One way to share them out is by posting links to a shared file such as a discussion/post within your Learning Management System, or simply a shared Google Doc or Slidedeck. It's also possible for students to download the free Google Expedition app on their mobile device (phone or tablet), and log in with their personal account. Doing so will give them access to launch their tour using the "View in VR" option. Depending on the device, and what you have available in your classroom, the student's tour can be viewed using a cardboard style viewer, or as a single lens view.

It is also possible to view the tours on a non-mobile device (Chromebook/Windows/Mac) by clicking on the tour link. That will open Google's Poly website, where you can view the tour by clicking and dragging in the view space with a mouse/trackpad, or if you have a touch screen device you can use that to navigate as well. One important thing about this web-based view, audio files are not set to be on by default. If you want to hear any of the narration, you want to click the gear in the top right corner (pink arrow shown below) and click to "Turn narration on" (green arrow below). You'll want to do that for each tour you open. And if you know how to set narration to be one by default, please let me know via email (rbray@btboces.org) or on Twitter (@MrChemGeek)!

In closing

While this project had a really strong connection to this vocabulary exercise I knew this teacher was doing, there are so many ways it can be expanded to fit any content area.

ELA - Create the setting for a story, or use the multiple scenes within a tour to follow a character's path/development throughout a story
Math - Solve problems on the "walls" and use the narration feature to explain and unpack the though process that went into the solution
Science - Develop a model of a lab/experiment... or better yet, create a macro level model of something microscopic! Take me INSIDE an atom or cell and show me around!
Social Studies - Find publicly available 360* pictures of historic locations and recount what happened there. Another example we are currently working on is to, with permission, use our Theta V camera to take 360* inside pictures and drones to take 360* exterior pictures of churches to provide direct comparisons of the various types of architecture associated with various religions.
Art - Let's go back to how Expeditions all started... create a VR tour of a student art installation at your school!
Music - Let's go inside an instrument to learn how it creates sound
Physical Education - Explain the various positions/movements for a specific sport from the field of play!

Not only can this platform provide an engaging way for students to express their creativity while offering a clear demonstration of knowledge, it is easy to build in clear connections to back to content standards and helps make the learning more sticky.

While students can still have the ability to flex their physical creation skills making "traditional dioramas", these VR shoeboxes give students the option to flex alternative creation skills. As an added bonus, the VR shoeboxes most likely require less consumables.. and let's be honest, they are a heck of a lot fun too!

I hope you find this workflow helpful, and if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me via email (rbray@btboces.org) or on Twitter (@MrChemGeek)

Addendum

Only one day after posting this article some feedback was shared with me on tips to make this process even better (based on testing it in the wild). Enjoy and thank you to Trish Llaguno and Emily Koval for your suggestions!

1. Better quality audio recordings

Our rooms can have some audio noise associated with them, especially if all of our students are recording at the same time. Here is a quick tip you can employ to help improve the quality of recordings: If you can find a small, cloth box like these ones used in organization shelves, your students can place their Chromebook inside the box to record. Doing so helps block out some external sound, and eliminate some of the echo you can hear in classrooms. Before you go too far here, make sure your Chromebook can actually fit in the box... we forgot to check that before we went nuts with the boxes :-). If you don't have access to these, or your devices don't fit, it is also possible for students to drape a beach towel over their head and Chromebook. This can feel a bit more cramped, but it can work.

2. Rename your audio recordings directly after saving

Organization is key to just about any project. While the website online-voice-recorder works great, it automatically saves the file with the timestamp as the file name. One tip our teacher offered her students was to rename the files right after creating them. In fact, this is exactly what I did when I made my tour, naming the files things like "Tour Door", "Tour Clock", and "Tour Window" for example.

3. BIGGEST IMPROVEMENT: Add at least one 3-dimensional object to the diorama

I can't say enough about this one. While I was happy with my sample tour, and I think it accomplished what I wanted it to, my test teacher shared a tour with me that one of her students created. This student really knocked it out of the park! She used what appeared to be some dollhouse furniture to adorn the room, and might have even made her own scale bean bag chair!! All of these items were placed up against the "walls", so there was no issue with blocking in the image. The result of using these 3-D objects was ASTOUNDING. The 360* image was so much more realistic that I felt it would cheapen to superimpose digital images on the point of interest. While I think it adds to the complexity of the project, I would 100% recommend asking your students to include at least one 3-D object in their diorama... you won't be sorry.

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