VIRTUAL REALITY: MAKE YOUR EXPERIENCES MORE REALISTIC

Konnichi wa!
In this post firstly we will learn what VR is and then talk about what we can do with VR as EFL teachers? How it can be used in foreign language classrooms?
What is VR?

• Virtual Reality (VR) is the use of computer technology to create a simulated environment.
• Virtual Reality’s most immediately-recognizable component is the head-mounted display (HMD). Human beings are visual creatures, and display technology is often the single biggest difference between immersive Virtual Reality systems and traditional user interfaces.
• Major players in Virtual Reality include HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR (PSVR)

• What is Virtual Reality?

  Virtual Reality (VR) is the use of computer technology to create a simulated environment. Unlike traditional user interfaces, VR places the user inside an experience. Instead of viewing a screen in front of them, users are immersed and able to interact with 3D worlds. By simulating as many senses as possible, such as vision, hearing, touch, even smell, the computer is transformed into a gatekeeper to this artificial world. The only limits to near-real VR experiences are the availability of content and cheap computing power.

  What’s the difference Between Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality?

  Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are two sides of the same coin. You could think of Augmented Reality as VR with one foot in the real world: Augmented Reality simulates artificial objects in the real environment; Virtual Reality creates an artificial environment to inhabit.
  In Augmented Reality, the computer uses sensors and algorithms to determine the position and orientation of a camera. AR technology then renders the 3D graphics as they would appear from the viewpoint of the camera, superimposing the computer-generated images over a user’s view of the real world.
  In Virtual Reality, the computer uses similar sensors and math. However, rather than locating a real camera within a physical environment, the position of the user’s eyes are located within the simulated environment. If the user’s head turns, the graphics react accordingly. Rather than compositing virtual objects and a real scene, VR technology creates a convincing, interactive world for the user.

• Virtual Reality technology

  Virtual Reality’s most immediately-recognizable component is the head-mounted display (HMD). Human beings are visual creatures, and display technology is often the single biggest difference between immersive Virtual Reality systems and traditional user interfaces. For instance, CAVE automatic virtual environments actively display virtual content onto room-sized screens. While they are fun for people in universities and big labs, consumer and industrial wearables are the wild west.
  With a multiplicity of emerging hardware and software options, the future of wearables is unfolding but yet unknown. Concepts such as the HTC Vive Pro Eye, Oculus Quest and Playstation VR are leading the way, but there are also players like Google, Apple, Samsung, Lenovo and others who may surprise the industry with new levels of immersion and usability. Whomever comes out ahead, the simplicity of buying a helmet-sized device that can work in a living-room, office, or factory floor has made HMDs center stage when it comes to Virtual Reality technologies.

  Virtual Reality and the importance of audio

  Convincing Virtual Reality applications require more than just graphics. Both hearing and vision are central to a person’s sense of space. In fact, human beings react more quickly to audio cues than to visual cues. In order to create truly immersive Virtual Reality experiences, accurate environmental sounds and spatial characteristics are a must. These lend a powerful sense of presence to a virtual world. To experience the binaural audio details that go into a Virtual Reality experience, put on some headphones and tinker with this audio infographic published by The Verge.
• Major players in Virtual Reality: Oculus, HTC, Sony
• As of the end of 2018, the three best selling Virtual Reality headsets were Sony’s PlayStation VR (PSVR), Facebook’s Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive. This was not a surprise, seeing as the same three HMDs had also been best sellers in 2017. 2019 sees the VR landscape broadening with Google, HP, Lenovo, and others looking to grab a piece of the still-burgeoning market.
  Here’s a look at 2019’s major VR hardware manufacturers and the devices they are manufacturing:

  Oculus Rift, Oculus Rift S, Oculus Go, Oculus Quest

  Originally funded as a Kickstarter project in 2012, and engineered with the help of John Carmack (founder of Id Software, of Doom and Quake fame), Oculus became the early leader in Virtual Reality hardware for video games. Facebook bought Oculus in 2014, and brought the company’s high-end VR HMD to market for consumers. More recently, Oculus has seen success with the lower-price, lower-powered Oculus Go, and 2019 will see the release of multiple new iterations on the hardware, including the tethered Rift S and the stand-alone Oculus Quest.

MARXENT 3D COMMERCE,"What is Virtual Reality?",12/26/2019,https://www.marxentlabs.com/what-is-virtual-reality/

First HMD(Helmet Mounted Display) in the '60s.
Sensors in the corners track our movements but in today's version, our pupils(eyepiece) are tracked.

                 

oculus go

How to Use in EFL Classes?

Some supplemental language learning applications focus on static learning, for example, learning vocabulary. We can learn to an extent but the effectiveness is open to question. It gives the opportunity to go to places that they have never been to before and they can visit museums and important places where they go, and they can do the speaking activity by describing what is around them. This also makes learners more motivated.
Another, instead of memorizing their names by showing the seasons only in the book, they can live it realistically in that season, by observing the changes around.
Another example can be escape games. For example, items are hidden in the rooms of the locked house and every room has notes to find the items. These notes describe the items in terms of their color, shape, and location that they are in. In this way, the names of the rooms, colors, names of items and prepositions can be taught. And maybe students make groups, they can share the rooms among themselves so that responsibility and collaboration develops. They may also be more willing to learn and play thanks to competition between other groups.
Here you can see my first experience while I was trying it. We tried VR Skydiving Simulator and Roller Coaster VR. And I recommend you to try Roller Coaster VR, it really works.
ATTENTION!!!
(You can be nauseated and feel woozy because our nose allows us to track in 3D and when the nose is closed and given only visually, the brain cannot receive position information through the nose so these might occur.)
(The brain acts as a reaction because there is movement in the visual but there is no movement in the crystals in our ears.)

Maybe I can't tell you how effective it is, but I can show you the photo of it ;)
Can you imagine the facial expressions of your learners?

Dewa mata!