 |
|
Breathing second life into language teaching
October 09, 2008An international team has developed a wireless virtual reality environment that can help promote language learning and let students practice. The researchers have demonstrated their Collaborative Virtual Reality Environment with Mexican engineering students carrying out listening comprehension practice in English as a foreign language.
Miguel Garcia-Ruiz, Arthur Edwards, and Raul Aquino-Santos of the College of Telematics, at the University of Colima, Mexico, working with Samir El-Seoud of the Princess Sumaya University for Technology, in Amman, Jordan describe their work in detail in a forthcoming issue of the International Journal of Mobile Learning and Organization.
Virtual Reality is a computer-generated three-dimensional space that is multisensorial, interactive and engaging. Online virtual reality systems such as Second Life have created a parallel world for entertainment, gaming, learning and even commerce. Garcia-Ruiz and colleagues point out that virtual reality could be useful in learning a new language. "Virtual reality is today one of the new frontiers in computer-assisted language learning," they explain, "offering a stimuli-rich environment for language students."
There are various collaborative virtual reality software applications. Of particular interest to educators is the open source Distributed Interactive Virtual Environments (DIVE). This system was developed by the Swedish Institute of Computer Science in the 1990s and can be run on a variety of operating systems, including Linux and Microsoft Windows. DIVE allows users to share a virtual environment over a network, whether that is a local network or the internet.
The system has a three-dimensional graphical interface and users can communicate using voice of internet or text chat with each user represented by a representation of themselves, an "avatar" in the three-dimensional space. Previously, DIVE has been used at the University of Colima to teach medical students about various injuries.
The researchers have created Realtown, a virtual reality environment within a DIVE installation. Realtown has a virtual supermarket, schools, a pharmacy, a bank, etc and background sounds can be enabled to increase the realism. Sounds include traffic noise, children playing, emergency vehicle sirens, and other common environmental noises. "What makes Realtown interesting is that students simultaneously perceive and interpret three different stimuli to help them incorporate their knowledge: visual, auditory and physical," the researchers explain.
Preliminary usability studies have offered positive results for engineering students at Colima practicing their English language comprehension and more detailed assessments are currently underway, the researchers say.
"The potential for the growth of Realtown is substantial," the team concludes, "At present, users only navigate the streets to get from one place to another, as the objective of Realtown is to provide listening comprehension practice and a collaborative platform where users can 'negotiate meaning'. In future, users will be able to enter any of the 40 buildings and interact with intelligent agents, which will provide greater opportunities to actually produce language."
Inderscience Publishers
There are various collaborative virtual reality software applications. Of particular interest to educators is the open source Distributed Interactive Virtual Environments (DIVE). This system was developed by the Swedish Institute of Computer Science in the 1990s and can be run on a variety of operating systems, including Linux and Microsoft Windows. DIVE allows users to share a virtual environment over a network, whether that is a local network or the internet.
The system has a three-dimensional graphical interface and users can communicate using voice of internet or text chat with each user represented by a representation of themselves, an "avatar" in the three-dimensional space. Previously, DIVE has been used at the University of Colima to teach medical students about various injuries.
The researchers have created Realtown, a virtual reality environment within a DIVE installation. Realtown has a virtual supermarket, schools, a pharmacy, a bank, etc and background sounds can be enabled to increase the realism. Sounds include traffic noise, children playing, emergency vehicle sirens, and other common environmental noises. "What makes Realtown interesting is that students simultaneously perceive and interpret three different stimuli to help them incorporate their knowledge: visual, auditory and physical," the researchers explain.
Preliminary usability studies have offered positive results for engineering students at Colima practicing their English language comprehension and more detailed assessments are currently underway, the researchers say.
"The potential for the growth of Realtown is substantial," the team concludes, "At present, users only navigate the streets to get from one place to another, as the objective of Realtown is to provide listening comprehension practice and a collaborative platform where users can 'negotiate meaning'. In future, users will be able to enter any of the 40 buildings and interact with intelligent agents, which will provide greater opportunities to actually produce language."
Inderscience Publishers
Virtual Reality Current Events and Virtual Reality News RSSBrown-Assisted Trial Finds New Colorectal Screening Procedure Is Accurate and Less Invasive
More patients stand to benefit from a comprehensive, less invasive method to accurately detect colorectal cancer and precancerous polyps, a multicenter study involving Brown University and institutions nationwide has found.
Aerobic exercise for the wheelchair-bound
University of Texas at Austin alumnus, Chris Stanford (MSEE '91), and Electrical & Computer Engineering undergraduates are working on making exercise fun for wheelchair users. For the last year, Stanford has been partnering with engineering seniors to test his idea for a virtual reality treadmill for the disabled.
A virtual toothache helps student dentists
Masha is a dental patient. Her oral health problems continue to change as she meets new Case Western Reserve University student dentists in Second Life's virtual dental office.
Men and women are programmed differently when it comes to temptation: McGill researchers
Temptation may be everywhere, but it's how the different sexes react to flirtation that determines the effect it will have on their relationships. In a new study, psychologists determined men tend to look at their partners in a more negative light after meeting a single, attractive woman.
OHSU psychiatrist to highlight warning signs for school shootings
Oregon Health & Science University psychiatrist Jerald Block, M.D., will present new research on the psychiatric factors that can lead to school shootings.
Visual technology enables brain to learn in new ways
New technology at Tufts University's Center for Scientific Visualization is enabling researchers to translate the most abstract, complex scientific concepts into clearer, more precise 3-dimensional images than conventional visualization systems can create.
Researchers discover second depth-perception method in brain
It's common knowledge that humans and other animals are able to visually judge depth because we have two eyes and the brain compares the images from each. But we can also judge depth with only one eye, and scientists have been searching for how the brain accomplishes that feat.
Leading Engineers and Scientists Identify Advances That Could Improve Quality of Life Around the World
A diverse committee of experts from around the world, convened at the request of the National Science Foundation (NSF), announced 14 grand challenges for engineering in the 21st century that, if met, would improve how we live.
Virtual reality and computer technology improve stroke rehabilitation
Israeli hospitals have recently started to use virtual reality therapy for stroke patients. One commonly used program has the patient watch his virtual image on a screen.
Bringing Second Life to life: Researchers create character with reasoning abilities of a child
Today's video games and online virtual worlds give users the freedom to create characters in the digital domain that look and seem more human than ever before. But despite having your hair, your height, and your hazel eyes, your avatar is still little more than just a pretty face.
More Virtual Reality Current Events and Virtual Reality News Articles
 | The Metaphysics of Virtual Reality by Michael Heim Computers have dramatically altered life in the late twentieth century. Today we can draw on worldwide computer links, speeding up communications by radio, newspapers, and television. Ideas fly back and forth and circle the globe at the speed of electricity. And just around the corner lurks full-blown virtual reality, in which we will be able to immerse ourselves in a computer simulation not only... |
 | Multimedia: From Wagner to Virtual Reality, Expanded Edition Tracing the fertile and fascinating series of collaborations between arts and sciences throughout the 20th century, Randall Packer and Ken Jordan present the often overlooked history behind multimedia - the interfaces, links and interactivity we all take for granted today. They bring together a collection of the groundbreaking visions of scientists like Vanneva Bush, Douglas Englebart and Norbert... |
 | Understanding Virtual Reality: Interface, Application, and Design (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Graphics) by William R. Sherman, Alan B. Craig Understanding Virtual Reality arrives at a time when the technologies behind virtual reality have advanced to the point that it is possible to develop and deploy meaningful, productive virtual reality applications. The aim of this thorough, accessible exploration is to help you take advantage of this moment, equipping you with the understanding needed to identify and prepare for ways VR can be... |
 | Designing Virtual Reality Systems: The Structured Approach by Gerard Kim Developing and maintaining a VR system is a very difficult task, requiring in-depth knowledge in many disciplines. The difficulty lies in the complexity of having to simultaneously consider many system goals, some of which are conflicting. This book is organized so that it follows a spiral development process for each stage, describing the problem and possible solutions for each stage. Much more... |
 | Virtual Reality: The Revolutionary Technology of Computer-Generated Artificial Worlds - and How It Promises to Transform Society by Howard Rheingold Imagine being able to "walk" into your computer and interact with any program you create. It sounds like science fiction, but it's science fact. Surgeons now rehearse operations on computer-generated "virtual" patients, and architects "walk through" virtual buildings while the actual structures are still in blueprints. In Virtual Reality, Howard Rheingold takes us to the front lines of this... |
| Communication in the Age of Virtual Reality This volume addresses virtual reality (VR) -- a tantalizing communication medium whose essence challenges our most deeply held notions of what communication is or can be. The editors have gathered an expert team of engineers, social scientists, and cultural theorists for the first extensive treatment of human communication in this exciting medium. The first part introduces the reader to VR's... | |
 | Exodus to the Virtual World: How Online Fun Is Changing Reality by Edward Castronova Virtual worlds have exploded out of online game culture and now capture the attention of millions of ordinary people: husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, workers, retirees. Devoting dozens of hours each week to massively multiplayer virtual reality environments (like World of Warcraft and Second Life), these millions are the start of an exodus into the refuge of fantasy, where they experience life... |
 | Virtual Reality Technology, Second Edition with CD-ROM by Grigore C. Burdea, Philippe Coiffet A groundbreaking Virtual Reality textbook is now even better Virtual reality is a very powerful and compelling computer application by which humans can interface and interact with computer-generated environments in a way that mimics real life and engages all the senses. Although its most widely known application is in the entertainment industry, the real promise of virtual reality lies in... |
 | A Hitchhikers Guide to Virtual Reality by Karen McMenemy, Stuart Ferguson This book is a two-part guide to the science, technology, mathematics, and practical implementation of virtual reality. Part 1 contains an explanation of what virtual reality (VR) is (and what it is not!) and what lies inside the hardware components of a VR system. It also details the theory of many technically challenging aspects of VR in a very coherent manner. These include stereoscopy,... |
 | Conquering Panic, Anxiety, and Phobias: Achieving Success Through Virtual Reality and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy by Brenda K. Wiederhold This book is written as a starting point toward helping the large portion of our population that suffers from anxiety disorders to overcome their fears and control their anxiety. It is a resource to enable those suffering from anxiety to take control of their lives and become an active participant in their own recovery. This book is essentially divided into two parts: a discussion of anxiety... |
| © 2009 BrightSurf.com |