JISC

Overview

The project employs an approach to environmental interpretation based on Augmented Reality. This technology offers an innovative and creative medium to reveal the richness and beauty of biodiversity on Exeter University’s main campus. Scientific data regularly collected by students as part of their programmes of study will be represented as layers of graphical and multimedia content which can be accessed and viewed by university staff, students and visitors with compatible Smartphones. In this way the campus begins to serve as a ‘living laboratory’ revealing a dynamic landscape of flora and fauna at any time of day or season.

Aims and objectives

The project aims to create a campus-based Augmented Reality environment in which Smartphone users will be able to access scientific data collected about flora and fauna (biodiversity) in a creative and accessible way. This approach to environmental interpretation will reveal a hidden curriculum to a wide range of formal and informal learning communities and promote engagement with the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) agenda. An Augmented reality Toolkit and associated advice, guidance and workshops will enable others to adopt the technology and underpinning pedagogies to develop their own applications which enable interactions to take place between the physical and virtual worlds.

Project methodology 

The project will initially evaluate a variety of available Augmented Reality (AR) applications for their ability to support its aims and objectives. Existing and new data sets collected about the campus’s flora and fauna will be geo-referenced and converted into accessible graphical and multimedia formats for viewing on compatible Smartphones equipped with the chosen AR application. The concept of an interactive ‘living laboratory’ campus will be trialed and evaluated by students in Biosciences using a Talk-aloud protocol. This methodology will inform the development and production of an Augmented Reality Toolkit.

Anticipated outputs and outcomes

The project will deliver a review of available Augmented Reality packages evaluated for their potential use in educational contexts. Biodiversity data collected at the University of Exeter will be licensed for open access. The project team will provide advice and guidance as to how such data can be collated for delivery on mobile via a full Augmented Reality Toolkit. A workshop will enable others to emulate the project and apply the principles and techniques to their own educational context. The project will generate a number of conference presentations, journal papers and is supported throughout by a public blog and website.