The use of 3D and immersive technologies, including 3D scanning, alternate reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and immersive games, in academia has greatly increased over the past decade as scholars have explored how they can be best used in research and in the classroom. 3D technologies include the variety of ways that three-dimensional digital representations of real-world features can be created and shared. Immersive technologies take this experience a step further, using these digital representations to create a larger digital experience with its own narrative or argument that the user can experience firsthand.
Capturing the world in 360 degrees offers a different kind of immersive experience, one that began with the ability to create panorama shots with a phone and now is a common feature on everything from apartment tours to tourist attractions.
360 degree images, videos, and more complex experiences are becoming easier to create and share. In the academic world, these kinds of images can give the user a better understanding of a space or a more engaging digital experience on a particular subject. In many cases, these kinds of digital products can be combined with other immersive technologies, such as 3D modeling or VR.
360 tours are a common way to utilize these kinds of images, which can combine a "Google Street" view-like experience created from 360 images with further information. Recently, special exhibitions at BC's McMullen Museum of Art have been using 3DVista to create 360 versions of their exhibitions, including Indian Ocean Current: Six Artistic Narratives.
360 tours also provide access to spaces people might not be able to travel to or visit. One example is the Anne Frank Family home, which is part of Google Arts and Culture.
Visit to explore the Frank Family home.
360 experiences can be combined with photogrammetry/laser scans, like this digital model of the interior of the Scrovegni Chapel (Padua, Italy).
Finally, 360 has entered the world of video, with 360 videos now available for locations such as Petra, Jordan.
Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) offers increased user engagement with the subject matter in question than a traditional image. AR involves applying a simulated layer that allows users to experience a layered, computer-generated enhancement to their real-world perception. VR involves creating and/or experiencing a computer-simulated world. AR and VR technologies are continuously evolving with AR, in particular, becoming easier and more affordable to create.
BC Libraries' has been working with the Center for Digital Innovation in Learning (CDIL) and Apple to develop ways to integrate AR into the classroom through Apple's new Reality Composer platform. The examples below will open on any iPhone or iPad and represent, in the first case, a "born-digital" object (the robot) while the lion stamp is a real-world object of which a 3D representation was made in the Digital Studio.
An animated robot AR model from the gallery projected on to a real-world table:
Lion-headed stamp AR model created using ARKit:
Created by Jessica Linker and her Bryn Mawr College students, this VR reconstruction of an early 1900s biology lab was based on Bryn Mawr archival records. It was created with , a commonly used VR platform.
The ability to engage with and manipulate 3D models of real-world artifacts and spaces can allow for a deeper understanding of the objects and space in question (particularly in comparison to a traditional 2D image). For example, a recent collection of public domain cultural heritage models from museums and libraries from across the world numbering more than 1700 models has been made freely available to view and download.
The creation of 3D objects can be divided into two general processes, creating models from photos called photogrammetry, which involves the construction of a 3D digital surface (known as a mesh) based on a series of overlapping photographs of an object, and laser scanning, which is the process of using lasers bouncing off from an object to identify the shape of its surface.
There are a variety of ways to make your 3D model publicly available, either as part of a research question or in the classroom. The models below are shared using Sketchfab, an online hosting platform.
Here is a 3D model of a pre-hominid skull made for a BC Biology class. (It is made up of approximately 150 images and the mesh is made of 1.5 million triangles.):
Here is a 3D model of the "Hail Flutie" statue set up outside of BC's Alumni Stadium. (It is made up of approximately 75 photos and the mesh is made of 762k triangles.):
3D models can also be 3D printed, such as this print of a Roman statue:
VR and AR based games, and interactive stories more broadly, are becoming more common and, with the increasing availability of VR and AR technology, are becoming easier to make. (Unity, one of the most popular gaming engines, offers free access to students and individuals for educational use.) The incorporation of games and the creation of them are also becoming more common in scholarly work and in the classroom where they promote multimodal learning patterns and offer a deeper understanding of subject matter.
VR based games involve fully computer-generated worlds. An example is Rome Reborn, which can be viewed on Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.
Closer to home, BC English professor Joseph Nugent and his team created “Joycestick,” an adaptation of James Joyce's Ulysses into an immersive, 3D virtual reality computer game developed in Unity. Users don a VR eyepiece and headphones and, with gaming devices, navigate and explore various scenes from the book.
AR based games involve applying a computer-generated layer onto the real world. Pokémon GO and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite mobile games are two.
