Immersive technology devices and field work: Oculus Rift

1. Immersive technology devices and field work: Oculus Rift Scott Turner1*, Naomi Holmes1 and Adel Gordon2 1School of Science and Technology 2Learning Technology *scott.turner@northampton.ac.uk Aim: To investigate the potential use and the student experiences of using virtual reality (Oculus Rift) devices for field trips The Project Thirteen Environmental and Geographical Sciences student volunteers tested the Oculus Rift. The students used the Oculus Tuscany Demo software to work around a landscape. They spent between 10-30 minutes in the landscape. No students had used an Oculus Rift previously. The Oculus Rift kit and Tuscany Demo Students using the Oculus Rift Once they had finished using the Oculus Rift the students completed a questionnaire about their experience of using the Oculus Rift, whether they thought the technology was useful for field trips, and how else they think it might be used to support their learning. Results A selection of results are presented below. Q: Would you want to see this technology used in your degree programme? Q: Did you experience any problems while using this technology? Q: What other uses could this technology have for a student studying for a Biology, Environmental Science or Geography degree? Conclusion The students all saw the Virtual Reality as beneficial only if used alongside or in addition to actual field trip experiences. Nausea/motion sickness was a common problem of using the devices. • Introduction • Virtual reality fieldtrips have been used by a number of HE institutions for a number of reasons.  • to give students the opportunity to prepare for a ‘real-life’ field trip (risk assessments, kit selection, project preparation etc.) • to allow students to reflect on a recent field trip • to provide an additional field trip experience without incurring extra costs for the student or institution • to improve accessibility to field work experiences • to allow distance learning students to participate in field work.  • Computer-based (virtual reality) field trips have in the past been perceived negatively by students, often due to a poor representation of reality.  Currently these fieldtrips take place in 3D environments on a 2D computer screen.   There has been an emphasis on enhancing the realism of these virtual fieldtrips. • The recent release of the Oculus Rift,a  relatively low-cost virtual-reality headset which tracks the user’s head movements, allowing users to ‘walk through’ a virtual landscape immersively, offers an opportunity to further improve the virtual reality field trip experience.  Acknowledgements We would like to thank the University of Northampton Innovation Fund for awarding funding to this project.