Three-dimensional point cloud (3DPC) data collected through real-world scanning has been utilized across various fields. Given its strong connection to physical environments, 3DPC data holds substantial potential for disaster education. This study investigates how 3DPC data from a disaster-stricken area can be applied to support disaster education. Our proposed application includes using 3DPC data as a digital archive of the disaster, assisting visitors to the affected area, and creating educational virtual reality experiences. We collected 3DPC data from an earthquake-devastated region in Japan and showcased a 3D virtual environment, generated from this data, at a university event.

Evacuation training is indispensable in terms of surviving disasters. Recently, virtual reality technologies have been used to facilitate evacuation training. The authors previously proposed the Evacuation Training in Metaverse (ETM) system. This system is currently being evaluated in a prototyping phase, where many users can spend time in a three-dimensional virtual university campus. In the ETM system, an earthquake occurs suddenly, and the users must determine various actions, e.g., whether to evacuate and where to evacuate. However, the ETM system does not always have a sufficient number of active users. Thus, the ETM system can generate non-player characters (NPC) based on the evacuation logs of previous participants. This paper overviews the ETM system and describes the method used to generate NPCs. In addition, the results of a preliminary comparative experiment are discussed.

Evacuation training should be more realistic. We aim to develop a VR-based evacuation training system that includes gaming elements but completely separates evacuation training and game. In addition, the training system should simulate earthquakes that suddenly occur. Before starting the development, we got interest ed in observing the evacuation behaviours of participants in a VR earthquake simulator. Thus, we conducted a preliminary comparative experiment that examined the differences between one-participant and two-participant settings in the simulator. As a result, participants tended to keep moving in the one-participant setting and consequently completed evacuation faster. However, participants tended to have more discussion and synchronisation in the two-participant setting, resulting in a slower evacuation. These findings have the potential to be beneficial to development.

Evacuation training is crucial for protecting human lives from natural and man-made disasters, but it should be more realistic to achieve training effects. In this study, we focused on expressing disaster situations using markerless augmented reality to achieve realistic evacuation training. We prototyped a scenario-based evacuation training system that superimposed three-dimensional computer graphics of disaster situations (e.g. fire and debris) onto real-time vision (captured by Android tablets or smartphones) using ARCore and Unity3D. Through preliminary experiments, we found that the prototype system can provide realistic expression and potentially be used for evacuation training, but we have not yet clarified the training results and how the expressions influenced participants’ emotions.

In Japan, a disaster-prone country, foreigners may fail to survive in disasters because they lack disaster-related knowledge, so disaster education for foreigners living in Japan is necessary. However, many foreigners are unwilling to spend time on disaster education. To improve this situation, gamification is employed. Gamification is to use game design elements or mechanisms in non-game contexts. For example, in the educational field, gamification makes learning easy and attractive, which motivates participants and encourages engagement in learning activities. This paper explores an information and communication technology–based system with application of gamification in disaster education for foreigners living in Japan.

Evacuation training is an important component of disaster education and survival. Evacuation training using a virtual reality (VR)-based disaster simulator that provides a highly immersive simulated evacuation experience (SEE) has attracted significant attention. To improve the training effect, we propose a failure-enhanced evacuation training model based on Kolb’s experiential learning theory. Our model aims to purposefully induce participants to succumb to conformity bias and fail to evacuate during the first SEE because inactive evacuees (i.e., people who are not evacuating speedily or not starting their evacuation) are simulated in a VR-based disaster simulator. The participants are expected to overcome failure in the second SEE via reflection and conceptualization. A preliminary comparative experiment focused on how simulated evacuees influence the SEE of participants in a VR-based disaster simulator. Results indicated that failure-enhanced evacuation training can successfully improve the training effect.

Since conventional evacuation drills do not adequately simulate disaster situations, participants do not feel a sense of tension during evacuation. We developed a game-based evacuation drill (GBED) system that focuses on situational and audio-visual realities and scenario-based interactivity. To improve the visual reality in a GBED, we adopt simple augmented reality (AR) and a binocular opaque head-mounted display (HMD). The simple AR represents vague extensive disaster situations (i.e., rain, fog, smoke and fire) by superimposing the overall disaster situations (dynamic three-dimensional computer graphics) onto the real-time vision captured by a stereo camera (attached to the HMD).

Disaster education focusing on how we should take immediate actions after disasters strike is essential to protect our lives. We proposed Immediate-Action Commanders (IACers) training and prototyped three IACers training systems using augmented reality (AR) and head-mounted displays (HMDs). The systems superimpose interactive virtual objects onto HMDs’ real-time vision or a trainee’s actual view.

There have been a lot of web systems in Higher Education (e.g. LMS, library system, registration system and so on). When several LMSs (e.g. Moodle) exist in each faculty (or each department), the student should access to any LMSs. Furthermore the web usage between universities extends. It is assumed that the students uses LMSs of any universities. When credit transfer system at other institutions is signed, student can take a course at other university's LMS. The student acquires the credits from other universities. It is necessary to check the recording history log. However, the log is distributed. The demands of interconnection of data of between systems arise when several Web systems exist. To solve the problem, we develop the synchronized environment that uses the web interface between web systems.

In this paper, we describe an attempt to increase students’ learning motivation in a classroom lecture. Our idea is to change a classroom into an exciting learning space by entertainment computing approach. The prototype system called “UbiDoor” aims at increasing learning motivation by giving students irregular external cues such as image, audio, temperature, and light.

We developed a PTI prototype system for supporting note-taking. The prototype system is realized as a fusion of notebooks and digital learning materials by visual-marker-based AR (Augmented Reality). A student can take a note with pencils, viewing digital learning materials projected onto his/her notebook. It is expected that the prototype system decreases burdens in and increases learning effect by note-taking.

Real World Edutainment (RWE) is story- game-based learning in the real world, which aims at increasing learning motivation. In RWE, learners can learn through interacting with real objects and human based on a game (learning) story, referring to digital learning materials presented on a handheld computer. In this study, in order to improve flexibility of the game story, we extended the RWE system by implementing the functions of branched game story interpreter, etc. Then, we designed a flexible game story for learning disaster prevention and considered its advantages.

Paper-top interface (PTI) is a fusion of paper and digital technology and proposes a new note-taking style in the digital age. We developed a PTI prototype system for supporting student note-taking in a classroom. The prototype system uses a visual-marker-based AR (Augmented Reality) technique and projects e-Learning materials onto the corresponding papers on a classroom desk. A student is allowed to not only view e-Learning materials under his/her eyes but also write on the papers (pages of his/per notebook) using pencils (and/or pens). The advantages of the PTI are easy annotation, quick navigation, flexible spatial layout, and intuitive interaction, which are necessary for effective and efficient note-taking. To know how the PTI influences note-taking and learning effect in comparison with other learning styles, we conducted a preliminary experiment where participants were divided into four groups: traditional notebook, paper handout, tablet PC-based annotatable digital slide, and the PTI. The experimental results revealed that the PTI is not inferior to traditional learning styles and can be used in a classroom.

A search engine is frequently used to look up interesting/unknown topics in web-based exploratory learning, but occasionally it returns meaningless pages (hyperlinks), which can interrupt finding suitable pages. This paper describes a web retrieval support system with a comment sharing environment, which aims at reducing loads in search activity. The effectiveness of this system has been shown through an experiment. This system is not currently adaptive but can be extended to a web-based adaptive IR (information retrieval) system.