Paul Driver is an Educational Technologist at Anglia Ruskin University. He has 25 years of ELT experience and holds an M.A. in Creative Media Practice (TESOL). He is an award-winning materials writer, a teacher trainer, graphic designer and book illustrator. Paul’s research interests span across many fields, exploring the roles of technology, virtual reality, game design, play, and embodied cognition.
Virtual reality will change education forever! Virtual reality will change cinema forever! Virtual reality will change how we work, rest, play and travel forever! Virtual reality is the “next big thing” (again), and these are just a few of the exuberant claims we have been hearing about the ways in which VR may transform our lives.
But what exactly is Virtual Reality and can language teaching and learning be added to this list?
I thought that the first part of this question would be easy to answer, but VR is one of those slippery concepts to grasp. At one end, it’s an exciting way to tear down walls, and escape into an infinite collection of interactive worlds. It’s a way to create magical spaces, explore far-flung locations and interact with information in new and engaging ways. At the other, it’s a somewhat clunky convergence of exotic, not-quite-ready hardware, including advanced optics, accelerometers, gyroscopes and dozens of sensors.
Though it might be said that virtual reality arrived, in the popular sense, in 2017, its evolution can be traced back through time as a constant struggle to create more immersive experiences. From the intricate scrolls of twelfth-century China, the huge panoramic paintings of the nineteenth century and early experiments in stereoscopic photography, to the promising but over-hyped 1990s arcade machines (which raised hopes and then dashed expectations for a whole generation), the history of virtual reality has been a meandering march forward, punctuated with long periods of stagnation.
Now, though, it seems VR is on the brink of widespread public acceptance, and it’s been a very long journey. The question we need to ask at this point is: “Was it worth it?”
At some point in 2017, it’s highly likely that you will have heard or read something about virtual reality. Maybe you’ve tried on a VR headset such as the low-budget DIY Google Cardboard, the mid-range Gear VR, or even one of the more expensive high-tech headsets such as the pioneering Oculus Rift or best-selling PSVR. As with most things, the absolute best way to understand what VR is (and isn’t) is to try it out for yourself.
Types of virtual reality
While choice is typically a good thing, and this growing range of options at different price points is a sign that VR is here to stay, it also means that the quality of first experiences can vary across a wide spectrum, from the blurry, passive and nausea-inducing to the truly extraordinary, interactive and transformative.
At present, when people speak of virtual reality, they are talking about one of two distinct things: 360-degree video, or computer-generated spaces. These are technically and qualitatively very different, and though there is some blurring of the lines between them, each has clear strengths and weaknesses that need to be considered.
For the purists, 360-degree video (and images) aren’t really VR, as they are, essentially, two-dimensional media displayed on a sphere, giving the impression that you are inside the scene. Nevertheless, the level of realism and authenticity achieved by using real images and video can make it an extremely powerful tool for immersing students in engaging content. By moving your head, you can look around to explore the image or scene, as you might do if you were really there. This very natural way of interacting with the digital space helps to provide the strong sense of presence that really distinguishes VR from other forms of media. The lines between 360-degree video and VR blur further, as 3D computer-generated objects can also be embedded into the images or video footage, and information ‘hotspots’ can be added for interaction and navigation. 360-degree video is also significantly cheaper and easier to produce, as it typically draws upon pre-existing real-world places and people to create the environments.
“True” virtual reality is computer generated and typically allows the viewer to go beyond viewing. You can explore the complete environment and even move around within it. The movements of your body can be tracked in real time and then projected into the digital world, where you can pick up, move and use objects. All of this can very quickly and completely succeed in tricking your perceptual system into believing you are there. This form of virtual reality is typically a much more active, immersive experience, but it is expensive to produce and access.
What these two forms of VR share is that both aim to simulate environments and place the user inside an experience. They enable us to move beyond looking at information towards being completely surrounded by and immersed within it. From an educational perspective, this may be where the true power of VR can be found.
The Universe is a great example of the blurred lines between different types of VR. It is computer-generated and you can look around with 360-degrees of freedom, but you cannot move through the environment.
In the next post, I will examine how virtual reality is used for teaching and learning languages. The third post will take a look at some of the resources you can use to experience and create VR content yourself. In the fourth and final post, we’ll focus on the use of virtual reality for teacher training before finishing with an attempt to trace the direction in which the current trends and technologies will lead the future.
See Paul’s last article on Virtual reality and transmedia spherical video in teacher training.