Interaction - Bachelors
“Bee Aware” is an Augmented Reality experience that allows students to get up close and personal with the creatures living in their gardens. When learning about the ecosystem, many different critters play a major role in the growth and nourishment of the world around us, so I created a safe way to learn about bees without endangering us or the bees.
Utilising AR within education allows hands on experiences to become self-led learning opportunities for all age groups. Bee Aware enables students to become more familiar with Augmented Reality learning methods, transforming the classroom experience into a 3D world where knowledge is obtained through interaction rather than textbook images. Therefore altering how a typical lesson can be taught by creating opportunities for collaboration, self-sufficient learning and interesting visualisation methods students can utilise.
This immersive interaction enables students to not only have access to experiences that aren’t feasible within the real world, but it creates a safe opportunity for them to learn in creative and modern ways.
Some of the key elements preventing AR within more educational spaces are the lack of infrastructure, tools, and knowledge regarding the Augmented Reality space. These hindrances limit the possibilities and advancement of educational opportunities within schools.
Additionally , due to fixed models of assessment and lack of technological tools, the number of innovative forms of assessment are limited in schools. Hence not providing an opportunity for new technologies or methods to be implemented without overwhelming teaching staff.
The major benefits of AR consist of increasing the classes engagement and interaction rates, enriching the learning experience through firsthand experimentation. Additionally, introducing AR elements allows learning to be timeless and available in and outside of the classroom, utilizing sound, interactive visuals, and movement to increase the sensory development of students.
The future of “Bee Aware” is limitless, as teachers could embed lessons into an AR experience, attaching their voice recording within the interaction in order to guiding students through a virtual lesson rather than through a textbook. This concept could then be further developed into other areas of education ranging across a variety of classes (For example: AR visualisations of Shakespeare, modelling, painting, interactive games etc). Allowing any open space to become the classroom, that is adaptable based on the needs of students.
Throughout the creation of Bee Aware, Blender was utilised to create and animate the model whilst Adobe Aero brought the project into the Augmented Reality space. The learning process was thoroughly enjoyable, as the challenge of creating and designing the models brought opportunities for me to fully immerse myself into the 3D modeling world.
One of the bees within the scene was animated to add movement into the interaction, whilst the other bees and bugs are static so students are able to observe these detailed creatures without interruption. Small items were hidden within some of the pot-plants to create an incentive for students to get up close and personal with all the elements of the scene, adding excitement into the interaction whilst allowing them to fully immerse into the experience.
If you’re curious or want to have a go, you’re more than welcome to interact with my project by following this link: https://adobeaero.app.link/5BKiXaoZ6ub
Bianca is an Interaction Design and Information Systems student who loves to integrate technology with design when creating her projects. She enjoys exploring different mediums and challenging herself when approaching new projects, allowing her to produce exceptional work.