technical communication

I just retrieved from the blog of the Learning Technologies team at NUI Galway the following nice blog post and the reference to a well designed video from Sorin Voicu showing a interesting future perspective auf Augmented Reality:

Augmented reality looks at augmenting the real-world with virtual reality in real time. It’s a been around for a long time (the term first coined in 1990), and has become popularised in the public mind by the film Minority Report (2002). More recently, some interesting projects have been looking at mobile phone applications as avenues for new interest and research.

This video here illustrates an idea how augmenented reality could positvely work in an educational context. For me, it identifies the importance of reading - central to student learning - and paper as a tool to support it. The main character uses the individual reflective “alone” time to prompt ideas, that are then explored and expanded through digital interactions as he moves through the world. A simple spark of an idea unleases a curiosity that the student can then explore in an augmented way, on paper and his experience in world. The creator is Sorin Voicu, from the Valle Giulia faculty of Architecture, University of Rome, in Italy.

and the VFX breakdown:

I participated on October 10th at the LEARNTEC Forum Austria 2008, which was held at FH Wien in Vienna. Freely translated the focus was: "What does future bring?" The main topics especially on the morning sessions were mainly presenting State-of-the-art sessions und future visions of Semantic Web, E-Portfolio and Pervasive Learning. The afternoon showed some best practice examples of the Austrian national railway company OEBB and the ministery of internal affairs.

So the mix of future visions and actual situation in big companies or institutions was a nice combination to see.

Some good reference for literature resources that got posted on the e-learning blog seems to be the presentation about free e-Learning eBooks by Zaid Ali Alsagoff.

See the slideshare presentation: Amazing FREE e-Learning eBooks Collection

Krems - I just arrived back from a one-day workshop on Design of Multimedia Content presented by Gerhard Schwed, MAS. We mainly went through in some Moodle test installations the actual variety of 330 Moodle Modules and Plugins. Some were found to have a certain value and being a solution to some needs for creating and providing Multimedia Content. The other Plug-ins were sometimes only working and needed for older versions of the Moodle Course Management System.

Even if the report is already from 2005, it has still its actuality.  As an abstract to the full text following information is provided:

Augmented reality adds information and meaning to a real object or place. Unlike virtual reality, augmented reality does not create a simulated reality. Instead, it takes a real object or space and uses technologies to add contextual data to deepen students’ understanding of it. To the extent that instructors can furnish students with a broad context for understanding the real world, students are more likely to comprehend and remember what they are learning. Through exposing students to an experiential, explorative, and authentic model of learning early in their higher education careers, augmented reality may help shift students from passive to active learning modes and thus become more successful learners.
The "7 Things You Should Know About…" series from the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) provides concise information on emerging learning practices and technologies. Each brief focuses on a single practice or technology and describes what it is, how it works, where it is going, and why it matters to teaching and learning. Use ELI’s "7 Things You Should Know About…" briefs to gain a no-jargon, quick overview of a topic and share them with time-pressed colleagues.

Fraunhofer IGD created an entertaining chainsaw simulation for a worldwide leading chainsaw manufacturer. The Cybersaw project simulates a typical working scenario with chainsaws via Mixed Reality technology. The main attraction is its interaction device: a real chainsaw with haptic (like engine vibration) and tracking capabilities. The engine sound can be heard over loudspeakers. The wood trunk is simulated by a acryl glass trunk. Also the shavings are displayed virtual. This way the use of a chainsaw can be trained in a save environment.

After some years of different rumours on Adobe FrameMaker, now version 8.0 finally is available. It is one of the real and most flexible authoring environments in technical documentation.
Between a list of different news for this software 2 features are of big interest for and reinforce my actual research and will need to be tested:

“Rich media support (New)
Create more engaging online documentation by incorporating 3D models, rich Adobe® Flash® Player compatible animations, and simulations created with Adobe Captivate™ software. Generate Adobe PDF files with live 3D models.

DITA support (New)
Use a prebuilt DITA application to author, publish, and distribute topic-oriented information in XML and create DITA maps.”

In the online science section of the Austrian national public service broadcaster ORF an interesting interview with Prof. Dr. Alois Ferscha was recently published. Here he talks about the fact that he wants to integrate by means of Pervasive Computing technology into our First Life.

Like Donald A. Norman describes in his book the “The Invisible Computer” he is of the opinion that technology should be designed in a way that it gets integrated into everyday life hidden from sight. Both state clearly that we need therefore to find solutions and possibilities in ICT (information and communication technologies) and product design.

Second Life on the other side is seen by Alois Ferscha as a project, which is going diametric in the other direction in implementing Reality into Virtually.

From my point of view and following the Reality-Virtuality Continuum Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR) could be a good solution between these 2 extremes. Worldwide researches in AR and MR technology look for ways and solutions to find and improve tracking, authoring and viewing software, input-/output-devices and usability. They look for pervasive and ubiquitous solutions to integrate this technology in different fields of application. From my academic background I also research for and I am interested in ways to apply AR/MR for technical communication and see the opportunity to improve this way e.g. technical documentation, technical (e-)education etc.

Jay Cross has recently published a real good book on formal and informal learning. Furtheron on his blog there are some visualisations of formal and informal learning which give a real good picture on the situation and relation between these to forms of learning:

1. The Dutch 80/20

2. The Spending/Outcomes Paradox

3. Inside Out

Just found the article on the BlogSite of Jay Cross.

“Another Life: Virtual Worlds as Tools for Learning

Virtual worlds (especially Second Life) have earned both tremendous media attention and millions of eager participants in recent months. Can these new 3-D environments transform online learning? Three eminently qualified observers—Jay Cross of Internet Time Group, IBM’s Tony O’Driscoll, and Eilif Trondsen of SRI-Business Intelligence—see great potential in online “learnscapes.” In an eLearn Magazine exclusive, they offer a thoughtful analysis of a phenomenon that is really just beginning to take hold.

Read the article, but then drop by Internet Time Wiki to play with our virtual worlds resources.”

My interest is since years 3D for techncial documentation and technical training and I see with joy how quick in the last time technology and business is enhancing in tis area. So my research approach to use 3D content for teaching and learning seems to be a good basis for further work.