In an exploratory study, we tested the effects of two kinds of VR presentations of constellation drawings and labels on memorization. We asked participants to memorize two sets of 14 constellations each: one set presented all at once, and another presented one by one. We evaluated their memorization skills by immediately conducting a test after each memorization set, removing half of the labels and half of the drawings for participants to name or draw, respectively. The results of this within-subjects pilot study point towards the concurrent (show-all) presentation of stimuli having higher scores than the individual (one-by-one) condition. However, the selection of the constellations may have influenced the preliminary results, hence, further modification of the evaluation procedure is required for future work.

This paper describes a framework to support the development of VR-based Educational Escape Rooms (VREER) that are based on real-world historical locations, such as museums and cultural sites. This framework facilitates the development of single-player escape room games, with support for capturing real-world places, environments, and objects to use in virtual settings, as well as defining hand-based interactions and inventory management with the said objects. We also describe the ongoing development of a VREER game based on a Philippine museum, built entirely using this framework. A preliminary usability study is conducted on this VREER game with the said museum's personnel, hoping to gain insights on the game's effectiveness with regards to motivating players to learn about the museum's exhibits and history.

One of the main targets of criticism of head-mounted displays (HMDs) is the field of view (FOV) size, whether in virtual or augmented reality. This limitation is prominent with optical see-through head-mounted displays (OST-HMD), as those with narrow overlay FOV (OFOV) sizes only provide a small window to view virtual objects. We investigated if restricting this OFOV negatively affects a user’s ability to memorize spatial locations in a simulation of a work environment, and consequently, long-term memory transfer to an equivalent scenario in the real world two days later. To find empirical evidence, we conducted a within-subjects experiment with 18 participants performing in three phases with an OST-HMD, simulated on an immersive HMD. For each phase, they viewed the training scenario with a different OFOV size of the augmentable area (30°, 70°, 110° diagonal). Results from recall tests showed that smaller OFOV size did not significantly affect user’s performance on both short-term and transfer tests, but HMD data revealed that users rotated their heads less with a 110° OFOV. We also found that proximity of objects to memorize had an interaction effect with smaller OFOV sizes. Our findings could have implications on the design and HMD choices of augmented training.

Localized weather reporting based on human observation is a skill practiced by fishermen, seafarers, airport ground staff, among others. Weather reporting largely depends on accurately identifying cloud types, and judging visibility and distances. This skill is developed by first-hand experience of various weather phenomena. As such, beginners would have difficulty practicing this reporting task without experiencing the phenomena, without proper guidance of experts, and without appropriate tools to support their learning. We present Kantenbouki VR, a virtual reality authoring tool, which can solve various issues in the process of learning weather reporting based on human observation. Using a 360° camera capture as an image background in the application, users can create annotations via freeform drawings accompanied by a cloud type label. To test our idea, we conducted an exploratory design study. Observations and results show that users learned how to use the system quickly, and approached the annotation tasks differently. Features that can be improved include the fidelity of the cloud images, as well as mapping of actions to controller buttons.

Work space simulations help trainees acquire skills necessary to perform their tasks efficiently without disrupting the workflow, forgetting important steps during a procedure, or the location of important information. This training can be conducted in Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR, VR) to enhance its effectiveness and speed. When the skills are transferred to the actual application, it is referred to as positive training transfer. However, thus far, it is unclear which training, AR or VR, achieves better results in terms of positive training transfer. We compare the effectiveness of AR and VR for spatial memory training in a control-room scenario, where users have to memorize the location of buttons and information displays in their surroundings. We conducted a within-subject study with 16 participants and evaluated the impact the training had on short-term and long-term memory. Results of our study show that VR outperformed AR when tested in the same medium after the training. In a memory transfer test conducted two days later AR outperformed VR. Our findings have implications on the design of future training scenarios and applications.

We investigate the extent to which Augmented Reality can contribute to effectiveness and enjoyment in the context of history-game-based learning. This paper presents a series of usability tests of a mobile Augmented Reality game application for learning Philippine history, Igpaw: Intramuros, with representatives of the game’s target audience. These tests discovered issues that compromised player enjoyment, including fatigue during gameplay, hurdles in learning AR-specific game mechanics, game repetitiveness, and outdoor safety concerns, in addition to minor technical issues. Nevertheless, the tests show the game’s high effectivity in teaching Philippine history.