In September, extra attention was paid to the possibilities of XR in webinars, articles and blogs. The webinar Network technology & XR focused on the latest technological development in this area. Read in this recap about:
Iotroam and XR: making a secure connection between devices to the (inter) institutional network
New wireless technologies and XR: experimenting with scaling up XR focusing on networking, remote rendering and multiplayer connectivity
Networked XR for education/Research: inter-institutional networks for collaborative XR
De Vraagbaak Online Onderwijs organiseert regelmatig webinars over online en blended onderwijs. Deze worden door de kijkers met gemiddeld een 7,7 beoordeeld. Benieuwd naar onze webinars? Bekijk nu de dertien opnames van de afgelopen twee jaar terug. We hebben ze per onderwerp voor je op een rijtje gezet.
VR in het onderwijs
Online samenwerken en (peer)feedback
Kennisclips en podcasts
Programmatisch toetsen
Betekenisvol leren
Blended Learning
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is een onderwerp dat op LinkedIn volop in de belangstelling staat! En dan hebben we het niet alleen over ChatGPT. Wij selecteerden zes posts die in de maand september op LinkedIn verschenen. Zo ben jij in een paar minuten weer helemaal up-to-date.
Most XR applications are developed in a game engine like Unreal Engine, Unity or Godot. This comes with a lot of benefits, a lot of functionality needed for XR is readily available for a wide range of devices, be it for VR, AR or MR devices. This makes it relatively easy to develop a simple XR application, compile it into a binary or a package ready to run on the XR device of your choice. The latter is where WebXR applications have major advantage, you host it once on a server and it can be accessed by anyone who has access to the internet and any WebXR capable device.
XR, dat Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) en Mixed Reality (MR) omvat, biedt mogelijkheden voor het bevorderen van inclusief onderwijs. Studenten met een functiebeperking of chronische ziekte* kunnen hier aanzienlijk van profiteren.
Some time ago SURF got their hands on the Augmented Reality device previously shrouded in mystery, the Magic Leap 2. Early in the current XR wave (2014) when the term XR wasn't even a thing yet, Magic Leap got spotlight with the release of a few patents for their new mystery AR device called the Magic Leap; which would add realistic 3D elements to the real world (see marketing video). Magic Leap got the attention of big investors, including even Google and Alibaba, which resulted in US$2.6 billion being invested in their company. Due to these investments and marketing videos showing very convincing visuals the Magic Leap 1 hype went very high, while the device itself was eventually quite a let down when it was finally released in 2018.
To our surprise Magic Leap announced the second iteration of their Magic Leap headset in 2021. The Magic Leap 2, unlike the first iteration, is more geared towards the enterprise market. Shortly after they announced that it would be commercially available from September 2022 onwards, SURF took the opportunity to take the leap and buy one of the devices. SURF then tested out its capabilities and wanted to share the outcome here. This has taken somewhat longer than planned, as will become clearer below.
De rol van Virtual Reality (VR) in het onderwijs wordt steeds groter. Terwijl de technologie zich blijft ontwikkelen, wordt duidelijk dat het belangrijk is om studenten goed voor te bereiden op VR-trainingen. In het webinar van 15 september gingen sprekers Tim Tijs, Iris Zwart en Gilles Obourdin hier dieper op in.
At the end of March the XR Developer Network organized a brainstorm meeting during the Saxion Reality Check festival. The topic of the meeting was sharing of XR materials between developers working in education and research - what, why, how?
One of the outcomes was that amongst XR developers there clearly is a wish to be able to share different types of content related to XR projects. Or, put differently, more seems to be available and sought after than what is currently shared. This varies from pieces of code to complete applications, as well as insights into how a project approached technical challenges and development, and best practices.
But there are hurdles, including some practical ones, that need to be overcome. Below is a summary of the meeting outcome, which identifies the main aspects and challenges.
We will use this summary as input for the next Developer Network meeting on the topic of sharing XR materials, which is scheduled for 11 October at SURF Utrecht.
See this event page for information on this meeting, including how to register.
Would you like to be involved in XR development topics? Please join the XR Developer Network meetings! Register with the network by sending an e-mail to xr@surf.nl.