Enabling Seamless Creation of Annotated Spaces: Enhancing Learning in VR Environments

TL;DR

This paper addresses how annotations can enhance learning in VR by enabling asynchronous collaboration between educators and students via large touchscreen interfaces. It presents a mixed-reality pipeline implemented in Unity that renders to both a touchscreen and a VR headset, enabling educators to annotate static scenes that learners explore in VR. A 24-participant study evaluates the usability and educational value of text, drawing, erase/fill, and sequence annotations, finding high perceived utility for annotations and a preference for VR. The results show promise for information retention and comprehension in annotated mixed reality settings, while identifying touch-interface usability issues and opportunities for refinement.

Abstract

We present an approach to evaluate the efficacy of annotations in augmenting learning environments in the context of Virtual Reality. Our study extends previous work highlighting the benefits of learning based in virtual reality and introduces a method to facilitate asynchronous collaboration between educators and students. These two distinct perspectives fulfill special roles: educators aim to convey information, which learners should get familiarized. Educators are empowered to annotate static scenes on large touchscreens to supplement information. Subsequently, learners explore those annotated scenes in virtual reality. To assess the comparative ease and usability of creating text and pen annotations, we conducted a user study with 24 participants, which assumed both roles of learners and teachers. Educators annotated static courses using provided textbook excerpts, interfacing through an 86-inch touchscreen. Learners navigated pre-designed educational courses in virtual reality to evaluate the practicality of annotations. The utility of annotations in virtual reality garnered high ratings. Users encountered issues with the touch interface implementation and rated it with a low intuitivity. Despite this, our study underscores the significant benefits of annotations, particularly for learners. This research offers valuable insights into annotation-enriched learning, emphasizing its potential to enhance students' information retention and comprehension.

Figures (10)

• Figure 1: Views when using the system we propose in this paper. The two roles (left: educator on touchscreen, right: learner in VR) share the same environment but see different versions of user interfaces.
• Figure 2: Camera setup designed to draw to both devices at the same time.
• Figure 3: Illustration inserted laparoscopic camera, revealing the internal organs. An exemplary textual annotation is displayed at nose position.
• Figure 4: The time in minutes the participants used each tool on the touchscreen.
• Figure 5: The time in minutes the participants used each tool in VR.