Virtual Reality, Game Design, and the Future of Education

Aldis SipolinsHead of Virtual Reality and Game Design

IBM Research: Education and Cognitive Sciences

My Background

The Holodeck Project

VR Brain Training Startup

What Is Virtual Reality?

Binocular Disparity

Binocular Disparity

Presence & Transfer

Learning in Virtual Reality

Presence - Ecologically valid responses

- Makes learning engaging

Transfer - True goal of learning

- Near vs. far transfer

Physical Activity - Room-scale tracking allows for mild exercise

- Elevated heart rate enhances learning

"It works. Nobody’s getting sick off this… And you don’t have to teach

them anything except the most basic interactions, because our brains

know all about three dimensional space. It’s startling and perhaps

insulting what we’ve tolerated as interaction models until now.”

Tycho Brahe (Jerry Holkins), Penny Arcade

The Virtual Reality Market

Virtual Reality Is(Finally) Here

Watershed moment in technology - First VR headsets hitting the market

Hardware is dominated by big players

- Facebook, Google, HTC

Software/infrastructure is not

- IBM in prime position with Cognitive + Cloud + Watson

“We believe VR devices will have multiple use cases similar to

smartphones that serve the functions of voice communication,

texting, email, video, internet browsing, and social platforms. In our

view, consumers will be able to use a single VR device to play

videogames, watch video programming and live events, and shop.”

Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research

VR/AR Investment

600

1200

1800

2400

3000

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Q1 2016

$542m

$2,100m

$307m$692m

$250m$223m$102m$26m

Oculus (Facebook)Magic Leap (Google)

Source: Pitchbook Virtual Reality Analyst Report

0 m

100 m

200 m

300 m

400 m

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

Projected User Base

Source: IDC Worldwide Augmented and Virtual Reality Hardware Forecast

315 million

95 million

200k 9.6 million

Hardware Revenue(2025)

Source: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research

0

75

150

225

300

0 200 400 600 800

$14b

$62b

$111b

$99b$63b

$110b

Average Sale Price ($)

An

nu

al S

hip

me

nts

(mill

ion

s)

Game Consoles

Desktops

Laptops

TelevisionsTablets

VR/AR

Projected Revenue

Hardware 55%

Software 45%

Source: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research

Software Revenue (2025)

Videogames $23.9b

Media $15.0b

Real Estate $5.3b

Education $1.4b

Engineering $9.7b

Retail $3.3b

Healthcare $10.5b

Military $2.9b

Source: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research

Virtual vs. Augmented Reality

AR 25%

VR 75%

“At this stage, we have greater conviction in the relative success of VR versus AR given VR’s

technological progress and momentum, and the

early formation of an ecosystem of vendors

and partners”

Source: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research

Virtual Reality and Youth

47% know “a lot” about VR

75% will ask parents for VR device

88% said VR is “very cool”

Source: The New Reality of Virtual Reality and the Potential With Youth

Cognitive Is The Future of VR

VR generates massive amount of user data - What users do (accuracy, reaction time) - Where users are (3D position + rotation) - How users interact (motion controller gestures)

More data sources on the horizon

- Wearables (heart rate, respiration) - Vision tracking - Brain imaging (EEG sensors)

Cognitive makes this data meaningful

- Predict performance

- Suggest content

Hardware

Oculus RiftSamsung

GearVRHTC Vive

Mobile VR High-End VR

Google

Cardboard

Google Cardboard

-- Cheap

- Works with any smartphone

- Tons of content

- Display quality

- No position tracking

- One-button input

+

Samsung GearVR

-- Wireless

- Resolution (2560 x 1440)

- Headset cost ($100)

- No position tracking (for now)

- Specific phones

- Phone cost ($800)

+

Oculus Rift

-- Resolution (2160 x 1200)

- Refresh Rate (90 Hz)

- Touch controllers (Q4 2016)

- Hardware requirements

- Tracking range

- Cost ($600)

+

Oculus Touch Controllers

HTC Vive

-- Room-scale tracking (15’ x 15’)

- Resolution (2160 x 1200)

- Refresh Rate (90 Hz)

- Space requirements

- Hardware requirements

- Cost ($800)

+

Vive Inside-Out Tracking

Vive Motion Controllers

Which Is Better?

"It's going to change the world. The hardware is going to double in

quality every few years for another decade, to the point where, 10

years from now, it's going to be hard to tell the difference between

virtual reality and the real world.”

Tim Sweeney, founder of Epic Games

Motion Sickness

“It’s no longer the hardware’s fault anymore. It’s the

developer’s choices that are making you sick.”

Chet Faliszek, Valve

Additional Slides

Virtual Reality & Education

Huge Potential - Immersive, engaging lessons

- 3D concepts taught in 3D

Physical Activity - Enhances performance and learning - Lifelong brain health - Helps autism, ADHD, obesity/diabetes

A New Frontier - Education & VR is unexplored territory

Virtual Reality & Education

vs.

Challenges

Outcome variables - Paper & pencil tests

- Real-world outcomes (transfer)

Cultural stigma - VR is isolating & passive

- VR is social & active

Age restrictions

- 13+ for now

“…adults are going to be too embarrassed to run around outside

chasing after some invisible phantom. But a nine-year-old running around

the yard, playing kickball with Pikachu? Like, oh my God. Kids are going

to love this thing so much.”

Jesse Schell, Schell Games

Education & Game Design

“[A good game is] one that teaches everything it has to offer

before the player stops playing. That’s what games are, in

the end. Teachers. Fun is just another word for learning.”

Ralph Koster, A Theory of Fun

Education & Game Design

Why games? - Fundamental human desire for fun - Learning is hard-wired to be fun

Skill Acquisition

- Instruction, exploration, integration - Variable Priority Training

Positive Reinforcement

- Make every interaction rewarding - Utterly intuitive user experience design

“Good design is good business”

Thomas J. Watson

The Virtual Classroom

"...since the buildings were just pieces of software, their design

wasn't limited by monetary constraints, or even by the laws of

physics. So, every school was a grand palace of learning, with

polished marble hallways, cathedral-like classrooms, zero-g

gymnasiums [way cool!], and virtual libraries containing every

(school-board approved) book ever written”

Ernest Cline, Ready Player One

The Virtual Classroom

Watson Is The Teacher - Explains lessons - Answers questions - Suggests content

Learner Models

- Accuracy, reaction time - Heart rate, breathing, EEG… - Personality & preferences

Adaptive Social Learning

- Collaborative lessons - Real-time changes to optimize learning

Binocular Disparity

Thank You!

Go Make Stuff!