Virtual Reality (VR) Classroom
What We Do
The Virtual Reality (VR) Classroom is a service provided by WLDH Studio researchers
Michael Hall and Isidoro Villa Ligero through the Studio. WLLC classes can make an
appointment to run a VR Classroom session and bring their class to the Studio for
a VR activity - such as a vocabulary activity, cultural tour with 360 video, or play
a language and cultural centered application using the Studio's VR equipment.
Equipment
- 10 Quest 3 Headsets
- The Meta Quest 3 headset is the newest headset available by Meta. Much like the previous
Quest devices, it is a fully disconnected headset that can be connected to a PC with
a USB-C cable, giving it access to nearly any VR application that you can find on
either the Meta Quest Store or on Steam. The pass-through on this device is now in
full-color and is built from the ground up to work with Mixed Reality and Augmented
Reality applications which gives the instructor a collection of brand new ways to
teach language that were not previously available.
- The Meta Quest 3 headset is the newest headset available by Meta. Much like the previous
Quest devices, it is a fully disconnected headset that can be connected to a PC with
a USB-C cable, giving it access to nearly any VR application that you can find on
either the Meta Quest Store or on Steam. The pass-through on this device is now in
full-color and is built from the ground up to work with Mixed Reality and Augmented
Reality applications which gives the instructor a collection of brand new ways to
teach language that were not previously available.
- 10 Quest 2 Headsets
- The Meta Quest 2 headset is the most widely available on the market. It is a fully
detached headset meaning that it does not need to be connected to a computer or have
cameras set up to work; cameras are on the headset and as well as a powerful inboard
processor to allow the user to set up their own boundary and move freely with the
headset for a less-burdensome experience.
- The Meta Quest 2 headset is the most widely available on the market. It is a fully
detached headset meaning that it does not need to be connected to a computer or have
cameras set up to work; cameras are on the headset and as well as a powerful inboard
processor to allow the user to set up their own boundary and move freely with the
headset for a less-burdensome experience.
- 2 Quest 1 Headsets (For Italian Market and Italian Cooking applications)
- The Meta Quest 1 is an older model of the Meta Quest 2 and thus is not as powerful. We have 2 of these headsets for use of the Italian Market application, as it was built to work on this headset. These headsets can also be used for YouTube VR, if the class is large enough to warrant the need for more headsets to properly administer the experience.
Applications
-
- Lost Recipes
- A stylized 3D cooking video game developed by Schell games, players will make a set
of recipes from Ancient Greece, Ming Dynasty China, and Maya cultures with period
accurate tools and methods. You are taught these recipes by a ghost sous-chef who
is voiced by a member of the respective culture. The game had several professors and
academic checkers to make the experience as period appropriate as possible which adds
to the depth of care and charm to the game. Next to ImmerseMe, this may be our most
used application, especially for use in Classical Studies classes.
- A stylized 3D cooking video game developed by Schell games, players will make a set
of recipes from Ancient Greece, Ming Dynasty China, and Maya cultures with period
accurate tools and methods. You are taught these recipes by a ghost sous-chef who
is voiced by a member of the respective culture. The game had several professors and
academic checkers to make the experience as period appropriate as possible which adds
to the depth of care and charm to the game. Next to ImmerseMe, this may be our most
used application, especially for use in Classical Studies classes.
- ImmerseMe
- ImmerseMe is an online language learning platform where students will read scripts
for conversations and then can have their pronunciation and memory tested through
the interactive video accompanying the script. One of the most innovative parts of
this platform is that all video conversations were filmed with a 360 Camera and can
be used inside one of the Quest 2 headsets as a VR immersion language learning exercise.
While many of the lessons are one on one conversations in classrooms or other static
places, there are a growing number of lessons which place the student in a real scenario,
i.e. ordering a crepe on the streets of Paris, buying bread in a small Latin American
bakery, etc. These particular lessons are a real treat for the students as it can
give them a chance to see what it may be like to use their new language skills in
a real-world scenario. We have used German, Arabic, Chinese, French, and Spanish.
- ImmerseMe is an online language learning platform where students will read scripts
for conversations and then can have their pronunciation and memory tested through
the interactive video accompanying the script. One of the most innovative parts of
this platform is that all video conversations were filmed with a 360 Camera and can
be used inside one of the Quest 2 headsets as a VR immersion language learning exercise.
While many of the lessons are one on one conversations in classrooms or other static
places, there are a growing number of lessons which place the student in a real scenario,
i.e. ordering a crepe on the streets of Paris, buying bread in a small Latin American
bakery, etc. These particular lessons are a real treat for the students as it can
give them a chance to see what it may be like to use their new language skills in
a real-world scenario. We have used German, Arabic, Chinese, French, and Spanish.
- Italian Cooking/Italian Market
- The Italian Market application—currently on the Meta Quest 1 and Oculus Go headsets—is an interactive walk through of a market in Rome where students will find questions in Italian and must click the correct answer. The game is built off 360 Image Stills of a real Rome market.
- The Italian Cooking application—currently on the Meta Quest 1 and Quest 2 headsets—is
a 3D modeled kitchen inside a 360 Video of an Italian cooking class in Rome where
the participant will listen to instructions in Italian and cook a dish following those
instructions.
- YouTube VR
- The video sharing platform, YouTube, has an extensive and free to watch catalogue
of 360 VR videos of thousands of destinations. Some of these videos have narration
in the target language, some have narration in English, many have no narration, just
a walk around or through cultural areas.
- The video sharing platform, YouTube, has an extensive and free to watch catalogue
of 360 VR videos of thousands of destinations. Some of these videos have narration
in the target language, some have narration in English, many have no narration, just
a walk around or through cultural areas.
- Language Lab
- This is a language learning game that is focused on recognizing vocabulary while playing
fun games. There are three mini-games: mountain climbing, a beat saber esque game,
and a shooting gallery. The mountain climbing game asks the player to listen to a
vocab word and then grab and pull down on the correct item. Beat Saber for this game
works by having the student, again, here a vocab word and then two items fly at them
that they then slash at the correct one. The shooting gallery is very similar in that
a bunch of items will populate the screen, the player will hear a vocabulary word
and have to shoot the correct object.
- This is a language learning game that is focused on recognizing vocabulary while playing
fun games. There are three mini-games: mountain climbing, a beat saber esque game,
and a shooting gallery. The mountain climbing game asks the player to listen to a
vocab word and then grab and pull down on the correct item. Beat Saber for this game
works by having the student, again, here a vocab word and then two items fly at them
that they then slash at the correct one. The shooting gallery is very similar in that
a bunch of items will populate the screen, the player will hear a vocabulary word
and have to shoot the correct object.
- Google Earth VR
- This application needs the Quest 2 or Quest 3 device to be plugged into a computer
via a USB-C wire to use. Google Earth VR allows the user to explore the world through
Fly-Over, similar to drone footage, and land in spots that have Google Street-View
views available. Due to the aforementioned limitation, this is best used when one
student is controlling the movement and the rest of the class is watching the cast
and discussing the monuments or other sites they are seeing and using the imperative
to ask the student in the headset to go to new places.
- This application needs the Quest 2 or Quest 3 device to be plugged into a computer
via a USB-C wire to use. Google Earth VR allows the user to explore the world through
Fly-Over, similar to drone footage, and land in spots that have Google Street-View
views available. Due to the aforementioned limitation, this is best used when one
student is controlling the movement and the rest of the class is watching the cast
and discussing the monuments or other sites they are seeing and using the imperative
to ask the student in the headset to go to new places.
- Immerse
- An AI powered application that allows for more open conversations to test your students. We are still in the process of testing out the usefulness of this application.
- Currently only available in French and Spanish.
- Lost Recipes
Past VR Classroom Events and Resources
- SPAN 2003 Casa Batllo VR
- Led by Jhonatan Carmona in 2023, this VR Classroom visit focused on taking his students to Casa Batllo in Spain through a YouTube VR video that had a Spanish narration. The students would fill out the attached worksheet that describes Casa Batllo before going through the building in VR. After, the students would answer questions on a Padlet and discuss the experience with each other.
- CLST 44103/LATN 10103 Lost Recipes
- In Dr. Rhodora Vennarucci's Greek Art and Archaeology and Elementary Latin courses, Lost Recipes was used to give the students an experience in cooking Ancient Greek recipes and
understand the layout of an Ancient Greek kitchen. For CLST 44103, this was done in
conjunction with the Greek House project to bring to life a small portion of a similar
home to the one being studied. For LATN 10103, this was done in conjunction with a
Roman cooking project; while these are different cultures, the items used in each
kitchen are similar and the recipes use similar ingredients given the very interconnected
nature of the Greeks and Romans.
- In Dr. Rhodora Vennarucci's Greek Art and Archaeology and Elementary Latin courses, Lost Recipes was used to give the students an experience in cooking Ancient Greek recipes and
understand the layout of an Ancient Greek kitchen. For CLST 44103, this was done in
conjunction with the Greek House project to bring to life a small portion of a similar
home to the one being studied. For LATN 10103, this was done in conjunction with a
Roman cooking project; while these are different cultures, the items used in each
kitchen are similar and the recipes use similar ingredients given the very interconnected
nature of the Greeks and Romans.
- Argentine Fullbrights: Visiting Argentina
- The FLTAs from Argentina for the 2022-2023 Academic Year (Camila Bracamonte) and 2023-2024 Academic Year (Julieta Bertola) both brought students to the WLDH Studio to bring them on different tours of Argentina. Camila found a number of videos that brought the students to different natural wonders of Argentina, a cultural event, and a trip through Buenos Aires. Julieta, in the spirit of Halloween, brought students to the Cementerio de la Recoleta to take a walking tour of this famous cemetery in Buenos Aires.
How To Book
If you would like to utilize VR in your classroom, please send an email to Michael Hall (mh150@uark.edu) and Isidoro Villa Ligero (ivillali@uark.edu) with: prospective dates (at least 2 weeks out), an artifact or idea to work from (like wanting to find videos of tours of Ostia or utilizing Google Earth VR to walk around Paris), and the number of classes you wish to bring in along with how many students are in each class. We will then set up a consultation meeting to help build the class's lesson plan and how to set up the experience on a practical level and solidify date(s) for when your class(es) will come to the studio to do the VR experience.