The ViLeArn project develops and explores situated virtual learning environments based on presence and social interaction. The goal is the promotion of competences and the increase of learning success with special consideration of availability, participation and inclusion. The project combines innovative media-didactic principles of classroom teaching and learning as an interactive and collaborative process using digital media with current techniques of virtual and augmented reality.
Teachers and learners interact live in hybrid avatar-agents teaching-learning scenarios. Embodied by virtual avatars, participants enter into a social interaction during the teaching-learning process and thereby use the whole range of socially effective signals, especially for attention control, positive reinforcement and a sense of belonging. Agent technology supports teachers and learners by simulating the positive behaviour of virtual agents. Within virtual learning environments, available digital media (image, sound, video, web) are seamlessly embedded. Thus ViLeArn integrates digital media as the focus of competence development with VR technologies as didactic tools and combines the advantages of distributed learning with the advantages of classroom teaching.
ViLeArn researches and develops the necessary basic technologies in close interdisciplinary cooperation between media didactics, human-computer interaction (MCI) and computer science and with a continuous accompanying empirical usability and effectiveness test. The project benefits intensively from the joint preparatory work of the applicants, who successfully use immersive virtual environments, which are unique in the world, to promote the competence of teacher training students in classroom management.
Virtual Seminars
In our seminars, each participant was equipped with a VR-enabled laptop and an Oculus Rift S. Participants then downloaded the ViLeArn application and attended the seminar virtually, either from home or from their office at the university. As an example, we present seminars which were conduct in 2021.
In October 2021, Gabriela Ripka held a seminar in ViLeArn. The participants were embodied by stylised/cartoon-like avatars and chose their own shirt, skin and hair colour. During the seminar, students worked both in the main room and in the breakout rooms. One task was to relate concepts to each other by designing a 3D mind map.
In September 2021, Thomas Schroeter held a seminar in ViLeArn. To enable visual anonymity, participants were embodied by robots. In the application startup menu, participants selected a predefined group (A - D) which is indicated by the robot's chest color.
Features
When people are in a virtual learning environment for the first time, features can be overwhelming. For this reason, participants start in a private room and can complete a tutorial that explains each feature in individual steps (e.g., interacting with the tablet, sharing presentations, or grabbing objects). Participants can switch between predefined seats in front of the screen by teleportation. Quick settings on the virtual wristband allow participants to disable or enable the virtual tablet, stylus, and microphone. Button hints displays the controller button assignment.
Every user has their own tablet, containing a functional web browser (based on Google Chrome), a keyboard for text entry, a voice memo to take notes, and the scene control to e.g., share the screen, switch the virtual room (Main Room and Breakout Rooms), and other role specific features. Each feature can be disabled due to the seminar's requirements. Participants have access to a virtual tablet with web browser (including sharing capabilities), voice memo, statistics, and settings pages. The settings page enables the participant to switch virtual rooms (e.g., Main Room and Breakout Rooms) and other role specific features. The tablets and wristband user interface works both like a touchscreen: content can be clicked and dragged with virtual finger or stylus, and can be interacted with from afar: interface can be pointed at, clicking and scrolling via pressing respective controller buttons.
Different Avatar Types
We support different avatar types, including photorealistic, stylized, and robotic.
