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Virtual Worlds and Augmented Reality What solutions provide for e-learning?

On Wednesday 24 February at 18 hours I am participating in a workshop on Virtual Worlds and Augmented Reality at EXPOELEARNING 2010, the IX International Congress of e-learning.

The session will focus session on Virtual Worlds and Augmented Reality.

The workshop has got a sort of original format: a real-time discussion of a practical case to which companies in various sectors provide their own solution.

The meeting will be coordinated by Ruth Martinez (@aureamemotech), Director of ELEARNING3D, SL. Along with DOT there will be companies such us UTOPIA COMPUTER SOLUTIONS (java for cells) and ARPA SOLUTIONS SL (Augmented Reality).

I am very likely to talk about DOT-AULA, our  OpenSim based solution for virtual worlds.

ELEARNING3D S.L, http://www.elearning3d.es

DIENTEAZUL S.L, http://www.dienteazul.es/index.html

DOT-SECONDLIFE, http://www.dot-secondlife.es/

ARPA SOLUTIONS S.L, http://www.arpa-solutions.net

EXPOELEARNING 2010, http://www.expoelearning.com

Compártelo

Customers need to predict how many concurrent users can be accommodated on a Sim. In OpenSim were used to a maximum of 50 avatars or even less, depending on the number of prims.

The aim of the OSGRID people was to test if the SIM code improvements made in recent weeks have been effective.

The test was made on 9 October 2009.

Their goal was to reach the 100 users (the magic number) and the result is impressive because they managed to accommodate 85 real avatars(not bots). And the server did not crash, it was still accepting connections when they reached 85, people simply stopped logging.

So how did they do it? The answer lies in three points:

1) They abandoned Openjpeg technology to decode the J2K textures

2) Using the experience of Intel’s John HURLIMAN to rewrite the server code. It remarkable that the arrival of people from IBM and Intel is pushing up the quality of OpenSim

3) Improved management of server memory.

The result is impressive, 85 avatars on an old server with less than 1 GB of RAM.

Source

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Microsoft is currently installed on Reaction Grid, a service provider that uses Open Sim as a server platform.

Furthermore, from October 31, Microsoft is abandoning its Sims on Second Life. On that very day they are celebrating an open welcome event on Reaction Grid.

On the one hand we see that Microsoft regards Open Sim as a mature enough platform. Arguably more reliable than Second Life. In fact one of the reasons why they have decided to migrate is because during an event in April 2008 that a mistake occurred and was restarted islands that teleportation system broke down.

We must also take into account that “OpenSim itself is a C # application (a part of Microsoft .Net Frame). As a result, Microsoft is very interested in providing the open platform with its own Windows Server 2008. Last week Microsoft released a case study in touting the success of its virtual servers running OpenSim.

Compártelo

OpenSim to buid a Parliament

After signing the contract with the Parliament of Navarre, DOT has initiated the construction of the Virtual Parliament of Navarre. This project is framed within a broader construction of a virtual classroom in which students will find various materials for insight into the Parliament of Navarre (news, videos and the Virtual Parliament itself). 

Building the Virtual Parliament of Navarre

These are the main features of the project: 

1.-Create a configured server with Open Sim.

This is a project in which the coexistence of teenagers and adults will happen pretty oftehn and therefore the security and privacy needs are of the highest importance. 

In addition to that, an entity such as the Parliament of Navarre also called for guarantees of security and development in a server. Thus development in Open Sim facilitated the work that was unlikely to be developed in Second Life. 

Moreover DOT is developing new tools and applications in Open Sim, which is making this company a benchmark in the field of virtual worlds. 

OpenSim can be installed on any server server, which offers privacy and scalability of the solution. Its open and modular nature provides flexibility to adapt to new requirements

Building the Virtual Parliament of Navarre

2 .- Recreation spaces 

We are recreatin the main venues of the Parliament. Those who are actually visited by the students when they come to know the facilities. 

Exterior Building 

Advances in the reconstruction of the exterior of the Parliament of Navarre

Entrance and atrium space

Hall

Chamber of Deputies

Top view Chamber of Deputies

Hall: Equipped with a presenter, where students may receive explanations 

Construction of multipurpose hall

3.-Creation the custom avatar of the President of the parliament.

This avatar is also the protagonist of a video that will be the main features of the project. 

All this in two languages, Castilian and Basque, to visit that are guaranteed their educational success.

5.-Development of a customized edition of the connection software (client open sim), configured to connect to the virtual and downloadable from the website of the parliament.

6.-Making of a virtual QUEST application, for students to implement what they learned. 

Our virtual QUEST application is  to some extent similar to a WebQuest, but it would be developed in the virtual parliament. Our virtual Quest will allow an overview of the contents of the teaching unit. 

Students must move through the virtual spaces of the Parliament of Navarre to solve and respond to the challenges proposed in the quest. 

There are two different levels of difficulty in the quest.

Virtual Parliament of Navarre

Compártelo

From 3 to February 5, the LERANTEC-2009 fair took place in Karlsruhe (Germany).  LERANTEC is an international venue for experts in  e-learning and knowledge management. Among more than 200 vendors who gathered there, we (Eduardo Valencia and Javier Selva, joined Volker Gässler of VCOMM.

At the booth for the presentation of the DOT CLASSROOM. 

LERANTEC-2009 is a major appointment for the experts in e-learning and knowledge management, as well as the most important of this kind in Germany. Learntec is the right place for the presentation of the latest products, applications and services in this sector, accompanied by conferences and other special events and forums. 

DOT did not want to miss the meeting to present DOT Classroom and accompanied VCOMM at the F6.1 booth of the fair. 

The benefits of DOT CLASSROOM

DOT Classroom  focuses on several key factors: virtual reality, feeling of immersion, cooperation and cost saving.

DOT classroom is a virtual environment that allows companies to facilitate communication between individuals and groups located in different places. Avatars and environments are similar to the real ones, which allows to hold training sessions in an immersive way, while helping them overcome the obstacle distance. 

The effect of virtual reality is that the user receives the impression of actually being emotionally close to others in the same environment. Furthermore, the virtual learning becomes more relaxed and the participants end up feeling a lot less tired than when using a web conference or videoconference. 

Compártelo

Dot has made a very successful virtual presentation for students in  the Pau engineering faculty of EISTI (www.eisti.fr). The purpose of the event was hiring trainee engineers to develop a project in OPEN SIM.

Thanks to this Second Life presentation DOT saved as much as 30,000 km in travelling, 300 hours of work and 9000 euros. Each of the 5 speakers from DOT was in their own city (Madrid (2), Pamplona, Zürich (Switzerland) , Mendoza (Argentina).

Eisti Auditorium, presentation of DOT

EISTI is a prestigious engineering school located in Pau (Pyrenees Atlantiques) and Paris. EISTI also belongs to PEBA (E-Business Pôle sud Aquitaine, which brings together ICT companies of the French departments of Pyrenees Atlantiques and Landes (see the post about Navarre-Aquitania meetings in Second Life). 

The event took place on November 20 at noon in the auditorium of the Engineering School in Pau and like other companies in new technologies, DOT sought to convince EISTI engineers to join our own Open Sim project.

Screen in EISTI Auditorium

But unlike other companies that shared the EISTI auditorium with us, the DOT speakers used Second Life. Our presentation in real time was seen and heard by students in the auditorium of EISTI. We also interacted with them in an event that mixed the real (the auditorium with its 50 students) with the 5 DOT speakers.  

DOT speakers that day: Eduardo (who was in Madrid that day), Estíbaliz (Madrid), Diego (Pamplona), Volker (Zurich, Switzerland, was in the airport) and Rodolfo (Mendoza, Argentina). All in all almost 30,000 km. saved, 300 hours of travel and 9000 euros. Mikel should make the calculation of CO2 savings (see the post Mikel: Second Life to combat climate change)

And in addition to the speakers, there were other people from the DOT as Yolanda Amatriaín, Javier Selva , Mikel Meoki, Germán Pérez,  Enrique Bauluz, or Juankar Sanz or Mikel Belasko Mikel. 

Eduardo Valencia speaks before students at EISTI. Behind, Estíbaliz, Diego and Rodolfo

The presentation (about thirty-five minutes), was a success, judging by the applause of the audience at the end and the words of the director of Campus EISTI of Pau, Laurence LaMoulie: “La présentation a été très appréciée de nos élèves et des professeurs de l’EISTI, tant pour sa technicité que pour son originalité. Ceux qui n’y ont pas assisté le regrettent déjà: elle a été la plus remarquée de la journée “(The presentation was highly appreciated both by our students and by the teachers, for its technique and for its originality. Those who do not have been able to attend, are already regretting it).

Compártelo

According to the International Congress and Convention, companies in the world spend spend 107 billions of dollars a year just in sending employees to conventions and conferences. 1,243,600 events of this kind are held in the world last year. These data reflect only a small part of the overall costs of business travel.

Second Life will allow us to save much of our travel costs without sacrificing the frequency and quality of our meetings.

Thanks to the 3D technology of Second Life we can hold public or private spaces for communication, collaboration and learning. This allows us to briefly hold meetings at a distance and therefore helps us save time and money on travel, accommodation and the like.

The experience of meeting in Second Life is an acceptable substitute for the meeting in the real world. It is equivalent in many ways to video-conferencing, which is is much more expensive and complex.

• 1243600 conventions and conferences annually

• 107 billion dollars spent annually

Within a virtual classroom or a virtual meeting room, we meet other people who come to the reunion. Or rather, we meet with avatars (our alter egos in Second Life). We listen and talk, we sit and get up, gesturing a little, we see a video or use a whiteboard or PowerPoint documents.

Once you have a suitable space for meetings (that’s our job), participants need only an Internet connection and headphones with microphone (from approx 12 euros). Renting a space in Second Life ranges from 50 € to 200 €.

Compártelo

UNIGIS Girona, on the tenth anniversary of his Master online will complement its distance learning with the virtual tools of Second Life.

The University of Girona is responsible for the Master Program UNIGIS in Geographic Information Systems since 1999. Girona joined the international network of universities that comprise the International Association UNIGIS.

DOT is working with UNIGIS to develop a project that includes an island with auditorium, classrooms, workshophs and offices. Unigis Girona will also have their own servers (not dependent on the network in Second Life) for audio, streaming video and a tool optimized for powerpoint presentations.

Students in the GIS master of UNIGIS are scattered throughout the world and yet, thanks to Second Life, they will be able to come and participate with their avatars in classes taught in Second Life. They may also collaborate in seminars with other students and teachers.

On the occasion of the 10. anniversary of the Master Selva Producciones has produced an original video in which Dot has developed the virtual images shot in Second Life. In the fragment that we extracted from the video Irene Compte, Director of UNIGIS GIRONA explains the project through her avatar.

embedded by Embedded Video

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