This paper describes the development and implementation of Active Textbook System (A-txt) and Contents Maker (C-mkr), two augmented reality (AR)-based educational applications for smart devices. A-txt enables markerless AR interactions with printed text and images, turning traditional paper-based materials into interactive digital content. C-mkr serves as an authoring tool that allows users to freely create and manage AR content linked to printed media. The system supports both cloud and local operation and has been extended to run on Windows and Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs), enhancing its accessibility across platforms. The system was applied in two college-level courses, where students used it to annotate instructional materials and view AR-enhanced content. Questionnaire surveys revealed generally positive responses in usability, engagement, and perceived learning effectiveness. Students also provided constructive feedback regarding technical issues such as system stability and UI design. Open-ended responses highlighted the novelty and flexibility of the system and suggested its potential value across diverse educational settings.

This study explores the integration of generative AI (large language models) into the AR-based educational support application “A-txt” to develop a next-generation personalized learning support system utilizing learners’ behavioral and question histories. A-txt recognizes charts and texts on printed educational materials as AR markers and displays associated digital content. In this paper, we present a prototype system in which generative AI provides real-time hints and explanations based on user interactions and natural language queries. Through experiments involving image recognition and learning support responses, we verify the effectiveness of the system. We also discuss future developments, including automatic content recommendations, visualization of weak areas, and feedback functions for educators based on learner behavior logs. This research provides a foundational step toward building a context-responsive and self-regulated learning support environment by integrating AR and generative AI technologies.

This paper describes the cloud implementation of Active Textbook System (A-txt) and Contents Maker (C-mkr), which are educational applications for smart terminals that the authors have proposed. These apps use “marker less AR technology”, allowing anyone to easily add digital information to regular paper textbooks. By putting these servers in the cloud, users can now use them anytime and anywhere. In addition, this paper also states the development of classes using these apps. We aim to improve educational effectiveness by allowing students to use these apps to create original reference materials by attaching additional content to paper materials. We call this educational method self-decoration, or “Sel-Deco”, because the students decorate their textbooks themselves. This time, in classes where this Sel-Deco method was applied, good results were obtained in terms of student satisfaction and educational effectiveness, showing the effectiveness of the Sel-Deco style class.

The term "metaverse" has become a common word in recent years. This term, a virtual space on the Internet, is gaining importance in various fields in today's era of remarkable progress toward the fusion of virtual space and real space using digital science. The authors have been engaged in a project to develop educational applications using experiences in 3D virtual space with headset-type goggles. In this study, we investigated the physiological effects on the viewer by observing and analyzing the blink and discussed its applicability.

The corona crisis has promoted the spread of online classes at educational institutions around the world, but at the same time, its problems have become apparent. In particular, it is not easy for a teacher to get a response from students in a one-to-many video distribution format remote class compared to a face-to-face class, which makes it difficult to provide educational guidance. Therefore, we defined the information obtained from non-verbal communication in face-to-face classes as “Class Atmosphere” and analyzed the reason why it is lost in remote classes. In order to compensate for this, we have prototyped a cloud-based teaching assistance application that can visualize students’ willingness to participate in remote classes and their understanding status. This paper shows an overview and implementation configuration of the developed application that compensates for missing information, and also describes its utility and issues for future practical use.

In this study, we introduce a plan about the application of various realities for future educational purposes. To start, we provide an overview for three types of realities [Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR)] and clarify their relationships to each other. Then we classify VR tools into three types and focus on the integrated stand-alone type and prepare a plan for its educational application. Finally, we discuss important factors that could contribute to the examinees’ educational outcomes in the future.

The concept of a 3D experience using the Google Cardboard VR headset and cell phones is discussed in terms of its educational effect. As for the video component, content on YouTube as a 360°VR video is used. The following three topics are included in this project: skydiving, lunar exploration, and deep-sea exploration. In some organizations, groups of faculty and student members are asked to participate in such an activity to experience 3D using a cell phone and YouTube along with the VR headset. The authors plan to analyze the results using a 5-point scale. A similar experiment is already in progress. It involves the use of a different VR headset tool (Oculus Quest). Since the contents of both activities are similar, the purpose of this experiment is to compare and verify the advantages and disadvantages of using a VR cardboard headset and a cell phone, as well as to identify the advantages and disadvantages of using a cell phone.

The authors have proposed an active text system (A-txt), which is a next-generation electronic teaching material that can make general books digitally more extensible with a general-purpose mobile terminal using augmented reality (AR). A-txt content is created by software called Contents Maker (C-mkr). This paper discusses the development of C-mkr for mobile terminals and this development can realize new learning methods using it by students. A-txt is our original system that can easily add and show digital contents by using figures and sentences written on papers as augmented reality (AR) markers. Since Unity is used for the development of A-txt, users can use it regardless of the OS type of the mobile terminal. C-mkr used to need PCs exclusively so far, but now that we have developed an application for mobile terminals, it is possible to create contents on smartphones and tablet computers owned by every user. Along with that, A-txt itself has undergone various improvements. In fact, the A-txt system cannot be used by anyone at present because it is operated by an intra server, but we considered how to solve the problem by reconstructing the server using cloud type. With the above development, users can easily create and upload content anytime and anywhere. We are planning to use this system for students to make textbooks into reference books by themselves. This method is named "Self-decoration (Sel-Deco)", and its effectiveness will be verified in the future.

During the COVID 19 pandemic, the importance of global academia-industrial alliances has increased. It is hoped that the alliances will help us to solve the current problems caused by the pandemic. In this paper, we introduce the application of IT tools and communication skills utilized in a special educational project for an academia-industrial collaboration. Some concrete examples from 2020 are provided from the viewpoint of the national alliance project in Japan. A discussion is included that describes the plans available to increase and strengthen the national project in the future.

This paper is described on the improvement of the Active Textbook System (A-txt) and the consideration for Copyright Law when the A-txt is used. The A-txt is a next-generation electronic educational material system proposed by the authors that can digitally expand the general paper books with general-purpose terminals. This system is the original system that allows you to easily attach additional digital content to any location by using figures and sentences on paper as augmented reality (AR) markers. Initially, A-txt, which was developed for each type of mobile OS, is provided on a unified platform by using Unity, and it has become possible to concentrate budgets and human resources. This time, we have added new functions to make usability better and improved the screen display by modifying the source code. In addition, as a measure to use figures in books as AR markers without infringing copyright, we experimentally have found the minimum necessary range in which A-txt can be used without inconvenience. In the process, we also have found a method to increase the recognition rate of markers.

In this paper, a novel teaching material for the subject in Electric Power Engineering is proposed. The content of the subject is a non-practical, because the really necessary equipment cannot be installed on campus. Therefore, while taking the subject, students can neither feel the atmosphere nor know the danger of it. As a result of various trial and error, the authors have developed innovative teaching materials for introducing the subject. This teaching material employs a board game simulation format, so students can learn with interest. By incorporating digital contents into the tutorial, the simulation can be more facilitated. In addition, by linking with the active text system (A-txt) that is a digital teaching material using AR technology, the additional information can be browsed by holding their own smart terminal over the game sheets. In this time, it was confirmed that by applying the gaming simulation to the KOSEN students. They have been able to understand the learning goals represented by the difficulty of achieving 3E and the different characteristics of each country’s situation. Consequently, it was shown that students could study global issues in environmental and energy problems beyond the learning targets using the proposed material.