This session will introduce the concept of an Ambient Simulation-based Learning EXperience (ASLEX), a variant of the Alternate Reality Game (ARG) developed in part using virtual world technology and delivered on mobile phones and tablets.
2. Intended use
Level 1 Bacterial Pathogens module
Pathogens: Past, Present, Future block
Epidemic typhus as a case study for Pathogens Past
Factors affecting typhus prevalence in Victorian Liverpool
Evolution of virulence in rickettsia
Contemporary relevance, e.g. refugee camps, disaster zones
Mediated/augmented/virtual reality; ubiquitous
computing
Integral formative and summative feedback
Examined conventionally at end of module
Caveat: This is seriously unfinished concept-ware!
3. Workhouse
256x256 m
region
Wellcome Images ,CC by-nc 2.0 UK & NI
4. Affective Context Learning Model (Shackleton-Jones)
Learning is best when student emotionally engaged in advance
Memorable events (“flash bulb memories”)
Ambient Simulation-based Learning Experience
Virtual world (OpenSim) via Android mobile devices
Lumiya viewer (due Q4 2012; developer Alina Lyvette)
Movement synchronized through real and virtual space (GPS)
Format(s)
Digital landscape vs Story-telling vs Timeline vs Simulation
Group-based but each student has own hypothesis to test
Landscape provides data/evidence/tools, virtual characters
Students operate under resource constraints
5. Court
dwellings
Brownlow Hill
Men’s Infirmary
Women’s Infirmary Piazza
Offices
Fever hospital
Chapel
Scale and location approximate In-worldprim-based building
8. Image, video, data, citation, etc Standard client
Wellcome Images ,CC by-nc 2.0 UK & NI
Lumiya
URL
Note 3D view
Text view
Long-touch
Menu
Chat
Samsung Galaxy Y (3” 320 x 240 px screen)
9. Non-player characters
provide context, info and
narrative drive
Prim or avatar, static or
Edelweiss Le Mont St Michel, SL
moving
Menu-driven interaction or
scripted for AI
Located via minimap or
contacts list
Native
Lumiya
12. Limitations
Tech-driven or tech-enabled?
GPS accuracy
Android-only; frame rates, GPS, data plan
Lumiya: closed source/commercial (free for edu regions);
subset of OpenSim, limited panning, avatar appearance, etc
No RL map cf AR apps: ARIS (iOS), Wikitude
Ethics of using virtual spaces
Opportunities
Multi-user, mixed reality
Usable on desktop without GPS
(runs from server or USB on PC)
Rapid development (out-sourcing)
Collaboration/reuse
Google Project Glass