Jorge Martín-Gutiérrez

Evaluating the usability of an augmented reality based educational application

Technological developments and changes mean that computer-based teaching tools rapidly become obsolete or less attractive to students. In teaching, as in other fields, there is a continual need to explore new technologies that are attractive, adapted to the personal needs of students and which motivate them to learn. Students are struck by the appearance of new technology or gadgets and they show an interest in using them. This paper analyses the potential of Augmented Reality technology in university education. An AR-based application has been developed with a view to improving spatial abilities among engineering students, thus enabling them to gain a better understanding of engineering graphics subjects. We present a student satisfaction study and an evaluation of the efficiency and efficacy of the technology applied to this field of education.

Interactive Tourist Guide: Connecting Web 2.0, Augmented Reality and QR Codes☆

Abstract This paper introduce the design and implementation of a tourist guide using the combination of three technologies for visiting two of the most important routes in a World Heritage city. The application based on augmented reality will show a video to the user including 3D animations with a route across town displaying all historic buildings. The most emblematic buildings of the city were pictured and modelled and afterwards, a walking tour was designed across the historic site having in mind the interest that culture tourism may have and the impact that this tourism has about World Heritage cities. On the other hand, the tourist map of the city incorporates images of emblematic buildings to visit in any of the two proposed routes. Each image has a QR code which gives access to both textual and multimedia information through a website created for this project. The user will be guided across the tour through the augmented reality application of upon arrival at each building he will be able to access all the information available on the website by scanning the QR code with his smartphone.

Virtual Worlds. Opportunities and Challenges in the 21st Century

Abstract This paper offers a broad vision of the potential benefits which virtual worlds may provide for improving learning, collaboration, motivation and therefore, the improvement in academic performance of students. The paper underlines how virtual worlds may offer new experimental platforms through new interactions perceiving the changeable nature of technology. The article is based on the results of the experience developed in the mainframe of the educational innovation project performed at La Laguna University during the 2012-2013 academic courses. The technological infrastructure has been created already and the 3D graphic modelling was designed using open source software aiming for creation of the ‘La Laguna Virtual University’ virtual world. Teachers have given ubiquitous classes in this virtual environment interacting with students. All feedback from teachers and students has already been gathered in this experience.

Dynamic three‐dimensional illustrator for teaching descriptive geometry and training visualisation skills

This article presents a pilot study with architecture students, in which the effects of descriptive geometry, taught conventionally and using a three‐dimensional dynamic tool designed for the purpose, on the improvement of spatial abilities are compared and analysed. In relation with previous works, the main contribution of this research is the development of a three‐dimensional viewer (Diedro‐3D) to support the teaching process, encouraging autonomous learning. The Diedro‐3D application tries to overcome the main obstacle that student face when using a descriptive geometry textbook: static 2D illustrations of high complexity. This is achieved by providing a series of construction steps and supporting a 3D visualisation environment where the student can freely change the point of view. It is important to note that students show a high degree of satisfaction with the learning experience using Diedro‐3D as usability analysis confirms.

Mixed reality for development of spatial skills of first-year engineering students

This paper follows up on the validation and usability study done on augmented reality, which is based on an application for the development of spatial skills in engineering students. In this phase, the training has been implemented in new Engineering degrees adapted to the new European Higher Education framework at a Spanish University. In this paper, the results obtained by students when improving spatial ability while carrying out their training, are shown and related to academic performance and drop-out rates, which are from current academic courses as well as previous ones. Additionally, a pilot study is introduced where a group of students use Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) for visualizing the real scene with augmented objects, so spatial ability improvement results and time spent, are compared to others belonging to the group using the PC monitor instead. Results confirm the trainings validity and technical data which are collected to improve the interfaces application as well as the augmented book. This has allowed the training to be made available to education centers which are waiting for the academic implementation through a commercial edition.

Improving Spatial Skills: An Orienteering Experience in Real and Virtual Environments With First Year Engineering Students

In this work we present the results obtained from an experience performed with freshmen students of the Industrial Engineering degree at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria University aiming for improvement of their spatial abilities. The work linked to spatial abilities show a great lack of uniformity according to the adopted terminology as a consequence of different approaches, researchers’ field of study and the research’s scale. But all research agree on the relationship between a high level of spatial ability and the possibility of success in certain professional careers and university degrees such as engineering which is our actual case. The pilot study described in this paper, aims to improve the Spatial Orientation component of spatial abilities and for this we conducted two experiences or trainings based on orienteering sports: one was performed in a real environment meanwhile the other took place in a virtual environment. The results show that this component can be trained and improved in both environments without finding any significant difference between both types of training.

Improving Academic Performance and Motivation in Engineering Education with Augmented Reality

In this paper, we introduce a didactic book based on augmented reality technology (Augmented book) for learning standard mechanical elements in an enjoyable way. Using shareware Build_AR (free software for non-commercial use) scenes were created containing more than 150 standard mechanical elements as well as several machines in motion for analyzing its operations. This Augmented book was included in the curriculum of engineering graphics subject in the Mechanical Engineering Degree in University of La Laguna, Spain. Twenty-five students used this augmented book for studying representation and designation of standard mechanical elements. A control group composed by twenty-two students used traditional class notes with static images for studying the same contents. We have analyzed results through an evaluation test and a usability survey. Result shows that experimental group students enjoyed studying through the use of AR technology and even obtained better results in a contents evaluation test.

Using different methodologies and technologies to training spatial skill in Engineering Graphic subjects

Most papers about spatial skills and their components refer to the fact that engineering, architectural and scientific jobs require a good level of spatial ability. Spatial ability has an impact on every scientific and technical field, so its still undergoing strong development when it comes to engineering, technology, art and many other aspects of life. In the academic environment, Graphic Design teachers usually see students who have difficulties solving tasks requiring spatial reasoning and viewing abilities. The main aim of this work is the development of didactic material based on several virtual and augmented reality formats, knowing how students behave while using them, and checking if they are useful materials to improve their spatial abilities. This work present Three different technologies: virtual reality, augmented reality and portable document format to find out if they are suitable technologies together suitable methodologies to improve spatial ability and from the students perspective, their opinion of the tool and their motivation to learn more about the aspects of 3D reality. We present a pilot study that compared the results of improvement in spatial ability acquired by freshman engineering students also a survey of satisfaction and motivation of the methodology and technology used.

Productivity improvement by using social-annotations about design intent in CAD modelling process

This paper focuses on the New Product Development Process (NPDP) area to contribute to increasing the productivity of CAD users by means of an improved design intent communication using a social-annotation technique. Design teams operate in a similar way to an online social network, and CAD models are not just only a 3D geometry representation, as they reflect the result of an specific modeling strategy, that usually constrains the future capability for modification and reuse of the existing 3D model. Considering this context, this work tries to assess the impact of annotations in the engineering change process in order to determine its influence in the user performance during this process. Preliminary experimental results obtained from several experiments with Spanish CAD students indicate that it is possible to reduce the time needed to perform engineering changes in existing models into a 10-20% range, if those CAD models provide annotations explaining the original design intent.

Problem-Based Learning Approach in Marine Engineering Education Using Mobile Devices and Internet Tools

The skills of Marine Engineering graduates should be strongly oriented to problem solving for situations without external direct assistance. Marine professionals should also be able to take the right decisions under difficult situations like emergencies.Work-group and job planning is an every day requirement, especially when doing maintenance and reparation tasks. Besides, marine technology has advanced quickly and knowledge recycling is a must on every shipping company, but operation and maintenance procedures have usually to be learnt on the go. During last decades, marine engineering students had not got immersed into a real challenge work environment until going onboard for the first time when finishing their studies. The adoption of a problem-based learning is intended to solve this situation, so students will have a closer contact with real decision-taking and auto-learning situations on earlier stages. We pretend to create more engaging experiences and introduce our students into real collaborative environments using technologies; especially those based on mobile devices and Internet tools.Grounded in motivation theory, this research evaluates how the context of problem-based learning (PBL) affects aspects of motivation in students of marine engineering. Our research aims to answer: 1) How does the context of service in project-based learning affect student motivation? 2) What factors are most influential on student motivation to persist in project-based learning experiences?The results show different behavior in freshmen and senior students.© 2014 ASME