En décembre 2014, grâce à une subvention d’un million de dollars de la National Science Foundation (NSF) Major Research Instrumentation award, avec le soutien du Collège des sciences informatique, mathématiques et naturelles, de même que l’administration de l’Université du Maryland, naissait l’Augmentarium. Il s’agit d’un laboratoire où l’on travaille tant sur la réalité augmentée que sur la réalité virtuelle:
« …Essentially, augmented reality superimposes and mixes virtual content with the world around us, embedding digital information into real-world settings via special visors, glasses or cameras. Virtual reality takes this concept a step further and fools the senses of sight and hearing (and perhaps one day even touch and smell) into thinking we are in a completely different real-world setting or even a world that would otherwise be impossible to represent. » (Bethke, 2015)
L’Université du Maryland « a reçu l’année dernière un don de 31 millions de dollars de Brendan Iribe, le fondateur du casque de réalité virtuelle Oculus Rift (racheté par Facebook), qui avait étudié une année dans cet établissement » (Gourdon, 2015). C’est surtout le potentiel immersif de la réalité virtuelle qui intéresse les formateurs:
« Mr. [Amitabh] Varshney is researching how the human brain processes information in immersive environments, and how that’s different than on a computer monitor. In classrooms, he thinks virtual reality will help students immerse themselves in the subjects they’re learning about. One day, he said, architecture students could use the technology to walk through buildings they design.
“Instead of looking at just the equations,” he said, “you could explore.” » (Wexler, 2015)
Les applications sont notables dans l’enseignement de la médecine. On donne l’exemple de la possibilité d’assister à une opération sans être coincé à plusieurs autour d’un patient.
« Using lightweight headgear, surgeons could see critical information about their patient in real time while in the operating room, or even perform a surgery from a distance using virtual reality to see the patient and robotics to mimic their movements in the actual operating room. Doctors can also practice rare surgeries using virtual reality simulations to keep their skills sharp on their down time. Similarly, medical students can experience first-person training that they can repeat if they make a mistake to become more familiar and experienced with real-world situations. » (Bethke, 2015)
On évoque aussi la possibilité d’amener davantage de filles à l’ingénierie en les intéressant par le côté émouvant/ expérientiel de la réalité virtuelle. « “There’s a certain amount of emotional appeal — experiential appeal — that this has that smartphones don’t,” [Varshney] said.» (Wexler, 2015)
« …[T]he potential uses of augmented and virtual reality within curricula could be limitless, since any concept with a special or physical component can be better understood through a student’s firsthand use of virtual reality technology, and would likely make learning even more interesting and exciting for most students, says the University. This increase in excitement has been seen at a successful UMD camp run by Jandelyn Plane, director of the Maryland Center for Women in Computing, in which underrepresented middle school girls learn about coding to design virtual games and experiences. » (Bethke, 2015)
Ce printemps 2016, le Pr. Varshney offrira un cours d’introduction à la réalité virtuelle (CMSC 498W: Introduction to Virtual and Augmented Reality): « This will include an introduction to the human sensory system, generation of virtual worlds, tracking, registration, stereoscopic displays, rendering latency, interaction, immersion and telepresence. The course will also cover multiple modalities of virtual worlds, including visual, aural, and haptic. » (Augmentarium, « Education », 2015)
Sources:
Bethke, Ron, « Should your institution move into the Augmentarium future? »
Gourdon, Jessica, “Mooc et réalité virtuelle : la revue de presse made in USA“, Educpros.fr, 17 décembre 2015
Wexler, Ellen, “Virtual-Reality Lab Explores New Kinds of Immersive Learning“, Wired Campus, Chronicle of Higher Education, 8 décembre 2015
