Virtual Reality

Abstract.
BACKGROUND: One of the most serious concerns of parents, caregivers, teachers and therapists is children’s independent living, particularly of those with special educational needs (SEN). Purpose-built programs for the acquisition of independent living skills are considered a priority in special education settings. The main problem is the inefficacy of detached interventions to meet the needs of as many students as possible.
OBJECTIVE: Our response is to create transmedia applications for inclusive learning environments. To this end, we have taken a participatory design approach to develop a project for Daily Living Skills Training by combining special education pedagogies, filmic methods, game design and innovative technologies. In this paper, we present the design and development of Waking up In the Morning (WUIM), and its improvement through user-based and expert-based evaluations by students, therapists and developers. The main research purpose is to confirm if: (1) the final products of the WUIM project could be educational resources for students with SEN and (2) the common gaming experience could promote collaborative learning, regardless of students’ cognitive profile.
METHODS: During the alpha phase, we developed and improved WUIM. In July 2020, we implemented and evaluated WUIM in special education settings (beta-phase). More specifically, a quantitative and qualitative formative evaluation was conducted with children who have developmental disabilities (N=11), their therapists (N=7) and developers (N=2). Methods of data collection included questionnaires filled in by therapists and developers, participant observation by researchers and interviews with children.
RESULTS: The results of the formative evaluation were generally positive regarding four-factor groups that shape the learning experience: Content, Technical characteristics, User state of mind, Characteristics that allow learning. After the design team reviewed the potential users and experts’ comments that were mainly related to the user interface, the application was improved.
CONCLUSIONS: The two hypotheses have been largely confirmed. Overall, we propose a simplified development process that showcases the importance of arts-based methods and aesthetics which deliver representational fidelity. The study reveals the necessity of developing transmedia learning materials to meet each individual’s needs.

The efficacy of virtual reality (VR) as a design support technique is widely recognised by industries. However, the efficiency of the routine employment of VR into the product development process (PDP) still finds an obstacle in the poor integration of the tools employed. The use of VR still needs long and quite hard procedures to work effectively; the models have to be converted into a format that is compatible with VR systems and each task requires an effort to prepare the virtual environment or to post-process the results that depend on the complexity of the task. This work analyses some VR applications into the PDP and describes some ideas to effectively support the operator that prepares the virtual environment. These ideas have been tested by developing four software interfaces, able to create an easy data exchange link between VR and other design tools like CAD, CAE and computer aided control engineering (CACE).