Virtual and Augmented Reality
The expansion of the real environment through digital content and the immersion in virtual worlds have increasingly found their way into different areas of life and work in recent years. For the visualization of complex subjects, for modeling and simulation, teaching and learning as well as collaboration and communication, virtual and augmented reality opens up new perspectives in research.
The focus is not only on the development of the corresponding technologies. Our research focuses on technical, didactical, and user-based determinants from the perspectives of teachers and learners, content authors, and domain experts. Based on the human-centered design approach, future users are involved in all phases of development.
Authoring tools
Development of authoring tools for immersive media with which even technical laypersons can create, prepare and use content quickly and easily.
Educational processes
Development and testing of didactic concepts for AR and VR that support research-based, individualised and collaborative learning of abstract concepts.
User experience and usability
Usability evaluates how users can perform a certain task or use a certain application area and is a component of user experience. Various factors that influence this, such as the structure, navigation and design of a product, are being researched.
Fields of application
Software development
In the AR/VR.nrw project, an open authoring tool for virtual reality is being realised and tested with Figments.nrw. In addition to these tools, which anyone can use to create VR content free of charge, the source code is published under a free licence.
Teacher training
In the KoLBi project - Coherence in Teacher Education - a sub-focus is on the creation of modules that teach student teachers how to use VR in the classroom from both a didactic and technological perspective.
Research and evaluation of UX design
Analysing the influence of user experience, usability and stress on the motivation and performance of users of VR learning applications.
