Hiroyuki Mitsuhara

Paper-top interface for supporting note-taking and its preliminary experiment

Paper-top interface (PTI) is a fusion of paper and digital technology and proposes a new note-taking style in the digital age. We developed a PTI prototype system for supporting student note-taking in a classroom. The prototype system uses a visual-marker-based AR (Augmented Reality) technique and projects e-Learning materials onto the corresponding papers on a classroom desk. A student is allowed to not only view e-Learning materials under his/her eyes but also write on the papers (pages of his/per notebook) using pencils (and/or pens). The advantages of the PTI are easy annotation, quick navigation, flexible spatial layout, and intuitive interaction, which are necessary for effective and efficient note-taking. To know how the PTI influences note-taking and learning effect in comparison with other learning styles, we conducted a preliminary experiment where participants were divided into four groups: traditional notebook, paper handout, tablet PC-based annotatable digital slide, and the PTI. The experimental results revealed that the PTI is not inferior to traditional learning styles and can be used in a classroom.

Game-based evacuation drill using real world edutainment

Purpose – Traditional evacuation drill is monotonous. Therefore, evacuation drill should be diversified to get more people interested in disaster prevention. Our idea is game-based evacuation drill using real world edutainment (RWE). This paper aims at clarifying how RWE-based evacuation drill is realized. Design/methodology/approach – RWE provides experiential learning as the integration of edutainment and the real world. An RWE system works on a tablet PC and presents digital contents associated with learning scenes (e.g. real world locations) according to a branched storyline. Findings – Story (branched storyline), indirect/direct competition, and augmented reality content provide multi-ending and flexible instructional support and are helpful for diversifying evacuation drill. Research limitations/implications – RWE-based evacuation drill could be accepted by more people, but a branched storyline should be carefully refined to achieve maximum effect. Social implications – RWE-based evacuation drill co...

Do Children Understand Binary Numbers by Electric Card Game

This paper describes the card game enhanced learning where a child learns how to translate a binary number to the corresponding decimal number by playing Concentration (one of popular card games) with some children. We developed the prototype system of computer-based Concentration that substitutes RFID cards for the playing cards. We demonstrated the prototype system at an educational event for children. From the demonstration, we observed that the participants (children) enjoyed the Concentration and had interest in binary numbers.

Open-Ended Adaptive System for Facilitating Knowledge Construction in Web-Based Exploratory Learning

A typical learning method using the Internet is exploratory learning, where learners construct knowledge through exploring the web autonomously. A problem with web-based exploratory learning is insufficient hyperlinks. An open-ended adaptive system has been developed that facilitates knowledge construction in web-based exploratory learning by avoiding the impasse.

Adaptive link generation for multiperspective thinking on the Web: an approach to motivate learners to think

To increase the efficiency of exploratory learning on the Web, we previously developed a free‐hyperlink environment that allows adaptive link generation. In this environment, learners can make new hyperlinks independent of static hyperlinks and share them on the Web. To reduce hyperlink overflow, the adaptive link generation filters out sharable hyperlinks made by other learners with a low similarity of interest. This paper describes how to increase the effectiveness of exploratory learning on the Web. We think that learners should think about a learning topic from many perspectives beyond their individual interests. We call such a learning method multiperspective thinking. The focus of this paper is the adaptive link generation for multiperspective thinking on the Web. Our idea is to recommend the sharable hyperlinks made by other learners with low similarity of interest to motivate learners to think about information that is uninteresting for them but necessary for learning.

Evacuation instruction training system using augmented reality and a smartphone-based head mounted display

Recent years have witnessed an increase in large-scale disasters, which has led to an increased focus on disaster education. Thus, we developed a digital game-based evacuation drill system that encourages students to think about proper evacuation strategies using tablets or immersive head-mounted displays (HMDs). Our current focus is on how to encourage adults (e.g. teachers) to think about proper evacuation strategies and train them to convey evacuation instructions to children (e.g. students). We developed a prototype of an evacuation instruction training (EIT) system using augmented reality (AR) and a smartphone-based HMD. Our EIT system presents virtual disaster situations by superimposing virtual children, i.e. three-dimensional computer graphics (3DCG) characters, in real-time virtual disaster situations captured by a smartphone. The virtual children have various reactions in the given disaster situations, whereas the adults (i.e. HMD wearers) are expected to provide proper evacuation instructions to these virtual children while viewing the virtual disaster situations. We conducted a preliminary experiment and found that our EIT system was largely accepted by adults (i.e. teachers).

Game-Based Evacuation Drills Using Simple Augmented Reality

Since conventional evacuation drills do not adequately simulate disaster situations, participants do not feel a sense of tension during evacuation. We developed a game-based evacuation drill (GBED) system that focuses on situational and audio-visual realities and scenario-based interactivity. To improve the visual reality in a GBED, we adopt simple augmented reality (AR) and a binocular opaque head-mounted display (HMD). The simple AR represents vague extensive disaster situations (i.e., rain, fog, smoke and fire) by superimposing the overall disaster situations (dynamic three-dimensional computer graphics) onto the real-time vision captured by a stereo camera (attached to the HMD).

Game-Based Evacuation Drill Inside Google Street View

Evacuation drills should be conducted repeatedly in various conditions. Therefore, we have implemented game-based evacuation drill inside Google Street View (GSV) to realize evacuation drills in GSV with high situational (evacuation scenario) and visual realities (digital materials). In the evacuation drill, people can (1) participate easily and safely in evacuation drills regardless of time, place, weather, and their conditions, (2) participate in various evacuation drills for their local regions and other places, and (3) repeat the same evacuation drills with routes or behaviors that differ from their previous drills. We experimentally found that this type of evacuation drill has strong potential as a new evacuation drill.

A web retrieval support system with a comment sharing environment: toward an adaptive web-based IR system

A search engine is frequently used to look up interesting/unknown topics in web-based exploratory learning, but occasionally it returns meaningless pages (hyperlinks), which can interrupt finding suitable pages. This paper describes a web retrieval support system with a comment sharing environment, which aims at reducing loads in search activity. The effectiveness of this system has been shown through an experiment. This system is not currently adaptive but can be extended to a web-based adaptive IR (information retrieval) system.

Penumbral tourism: Place-based disaster education via real-world disaster simulation

Disaster education should be diversified using information and communication technology (ICT). To this end, we developed game-based evacuation drills (GBED) as ICT-based disaster education (ICTDE) programs. In the GBEDs, a participant occasionally views digital materials on a portable device, e.g. tablet computers and smart glasses. These digital materials correspond to places, i.e. the current location, and represent possible disaster situations (virtual disaster damage) at these locations. In this paper, we propose penumbral tourism (PT), which integrates GBEDs and dark tourism as place-based disaster education. In PT, a time-rich GBED is considered to be a well-designed short tour aimed at encouraging participants to think about ways to evacuate both familiar and unfamiliar locations.