How can you combine VR learning with AR or MR?

1 What is VR, AR, and MR?

VR, AR, and MR are different forms of reality technologies that use digital content to alter or enhance the perception of the physical world. VR creates a fully simulated environment that blocks out the real one, while AR overlays digital information or objects on top of the real world. MR, also known as hybrid reality, merges the real and virtual worlds, allowing users to interact with both.

2 Why combine VR learning with AR or MR?

The combination of VR learning with AR or MR can offer several advantages to learners and educators alike. For instance, it can increase engagement and motivation through the addition of gamification, feedback, and social elements. Furthermore, it can improve learning outcomes by providing more contextual and realistic scenarios, as well as multiple perspectives and modalities. Additionally, it can expand learning opportunities by enabling access to VR content from different devices and locations, as well as integrating VR with other learning resources and platforms. Finally, it can support learner autonomy and differentiation by offering more choices and control over the pace, level, and mode of VR learning.

3 How to combine VR learning with AR or MR?

When it comes to combining VR learning with AR or MR, there are a variety of options depending on your learning objectives, content, and resources. For example, you can use AR to introduce or review VR content through QR codes, markers, or image recognition. MR can be used to create collaborative or competitive VR learning activities with the help of holograms, avatars, or spatial audio. Lastly, VR can be used to create immersive AR or MR learning experiences with headsets, controllers, or haptics to manipulate or explore AR or MR objects and scenes.

4 What are the benefits of combining VR learning with AR or MR?

Combining VR learning with AR or MR can offer several benefits for learners and educators, such as improving retention and transfer of knowledge and skills, increasing learner satisfaction and enjoyment, reducing costs and barriers to VR learning, and enhancing assessment and evaluation of VR learning. Creating more memorable and meaningful VR learning experiences can help boost knowledge transfer, while providing more variety and novelty can make the experience more enjoyable. Additionally, making VR learning more accessible and compatible with existing or emerging technologies can reduce the cost of implementation. Finally, collecting more data and feedback from AR or MR interactions can help to better evaluate the outcomes of VR learning.

5 What are the challenges of combining VR learning with AR or MR?

When combining VR learning with AR or MR, learners and educators may face various challenges. Quality and consistency of VR content must be guaranteed across different devices and platforms, while technical issues and glitches must be resolved. It is equally important to balance the cognitive load and attention of learners between the real and virtual worlds, as well as avoiding distraction and confusion. Ethical and legal issues related to VR learning, such as privacy, security, consent, and copyright must also be addressed. Lastly, adequate support and guidance should be provided so that learners and educators can use VR learning effectively and safely, while fostering a positive and respectful VR learning culture.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?