GeoSolvAR: An AR-based app for mental rotation

Mental Rotation is an important aspect of spatial visualization which is essential for understanding geometry concepts like visualization of 3D Solids. Mental Rotation refers to the ability to mentally retain an object and accurately rotate it in space. Performing mental rotation tasks has been shown to be difficult because it involves series of manipulations like rotating, inverting, or twisting the objects in the 3D space mentally. To address this challenge, we have developed a mental rotation training application called ‘GeoSolvAR’ for middle school students. GeoSolvAR is an Augmented Reality (AR) based application, where use of augmented reality enables the learners to accurately visualize and manipulate complex 3D objects. GeoSolvAR builds on Predict-Observe-Explain (POE) strategy and consists of learning activities which involve different types of Mental Rotation tasks. There are six learning activities in GeoSolvAR which are sequenced in increasing levels of difficulty.

To summarize, we have developed and evaluated an augmented reality-based solution for visualising 3D solids and mental rotation, specifically: 

• Developed an augmented-reality-based application, GeoSolvAR, to visualise and manipulate complex 3D objects

• Designed learning activities involving mental rotation tasks with learner-centric pedagogies (e.g., predict-observe-explain)

• Conducted qualitative and quantitative research studies to understand how learners interact with the augmented reality-based solution to do mental rotation tasks and evaluated the usability of such an application