The Tablet Context (4)

In our concluding post in this four-part series, I want to focus on where a tool like the NEO3DO fits in the grand scheme of education.

The Educational Context. In schools, mobility tools like tablets and iPads are clearly the most popular kids on the block. Educational conferences assign an inordinate amount of importance and mindshare time to these devices. In fact, all traditional educational computing has largely become ho-hum in the face of these eye-catching new arrivals. It seems everyone in education wants a piece of the mlearning revolution (mlearning = mobility learning). Although they have not yet replaced laptops and desktops in most schools, tablets and iPads are gaining ground in schools, making their way into pilot projects, shared classroom sets, the welcoming arms of innovative teachers and principals, and the desks of 1:1 schools that can afford them. The context is simple: in today’s educational environments, mobility tools matter.

The Content Context. Although there’s nothing wrong with the NEO3DO tool itself, I was discouraged by the content posture it poses. The company loaded some nice demos and loops for me to explore. That was appreciated. Thanks. But what the company doesn’t yet understand (yet soon will) is that schools have little respect for video, aka movies, flicks, cinema, film, entertainment, Hollywood, features. (A positive exception would be the short, focused video vignettes, like the well-known DesignMate resources.)

Within educational circles, the train has long since left the station in that regard. You will never widely sell a tool to schools on the basis of being able to see videos. Educators today want less passive and more active (interactive) experiences with mobility devices. They want students to be able to create, construct, design, or experience learning with mobility devices. Loops, movies and running demos just don’t cut it for demonstration purposes to educators. Anachronistic artifacts from the past century won’t do this device justice. Instead, we need to see 3D simulations and micro-simulations, 3D serious games, tethered and tightly focused 3D visualizations, and avenues for 3D content creation. (I am speaking specifically of stills, animation, shorts, and narrated machinimas.)  Now, the NEO3DO can do all the right things—but they are not yet loaded on it.

The Competitive Context. I am worried about NEO3DO’s competition. How will this tiny company fair against the likes of Apple, Microsoft, and Asus in school sales? Is autostereoscopic 3D enough to give them an edge? I believe this tool must be bundled with stellar content and steered by brilliant marketing strategy in order to carve a presence into the stubbornly resistant educational market.

What People Think (3)

What do people think about the glasses-free NEO3DO? It depends. Here is where my grand experiment has taken me thus far:

What Educators Think. Every educator I’ve shown this device to likes it, especially the autostereoscopic 3D part. The tablet gets their minds rolling with ideas and possibilities, heretofore unimaginable. The most excited educator was a large-district STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) coordinator. That makes sense. I also demonstrated the NEO3DO to the entire instructional technology leadership team (6 people) from a large urban school district on the east coast. They too liked what they saw.

What non-educators think. I have also been taking time to show the NEO3DO to non-educators. Lawyers, middle school kids, elementary school kids, college students, homemakers, business people, investors, grandmas. Here in the U.S. and in Puerto Rico. In each case, it was certainly their first experience with autostereoscopic 3D. They all liked the NEO, but had different interests in terms of how to use it: 3D movies. Look at cute boys in 3D concerts. Glasses-free enjoyment. Just having a low-cost android tablet. Enjoying the untethered freedom of portability. Again, looking at cute boys in 3D. Games du jeur. Making 3D, not just consuming 3D. I'm guessing that such diversity of perceived uses is a positive sign indeed.

Glasses-free Test Drive (2)

I’ve been working feverishly with the NEO3DO, examining it from an educator’s perspective and showing it to folks everywhere I go.  As a result, I’ve learned quite a lot. Here’s what I know so far: It works. It works very well. In fact, the most telling and consistent phenomenon I have experienced while showing the NEO3DO to educators and non-educators alike is the common reaction I see: a physical reflex reaction from folks who jerk their heads back in astonishment, peer more closely, point, or pose an enchanted second take in utter disbelief. Everyone, and I mean everyone, is taken back at what they see before them. 

Clyde Dsouza, in his seminal book Think in 3D, suggests that “the ability of 3D to influence people has still not been studied.” He reminds us that 3D is “a powerful phenomenon that can even activate our physical reflexes.” That’s what NEO3DO seems to do for people. It makes them flinch in delight. For me, it resulted in a pleasurable head rush of visual Elysium.

Enough slobbbering, however. This is a good implementation for educational purposes. A full-featured, low-cost Android tablet that does it all: ebooks, browsing, hi-def visuals, educational apps, work on-the-go. Good for reading, writing, research, media viewing, simulation, and gamification. Smooth finger controls, by the way. Oh, and did I mention it offers rich autostereoscopic (glasses-free) 3D to boot? From an educational perspective, this tool offers all the basics plus a bright future.

The NEO3DO Tablet

For the last few weeks I have been taking the new NEO3DO glasses-free (meaning you can see stereo 3D without 3D glasses) tablet on an educator’s test drive, critically kicking its tires and examining its potential for K-12 and university classrooms. NEO3DO is an “autostereoscopic” android-based tablet developed by a team of San Diego innovators.

I have known for some time about this new product. I was intrigued by its promise, but too invested in doubt to take any action at first. But then, driven by pure “technology director” instinct, followed by cat-like curiosity after viewing scenes from this video, and after having solicited feedback from dear friends on the West Coast who had actually played with these devices, I took the plunge. My impatience got the best of me, so I seized the opportunity to play with one, once offered the chance.

So how did the NEO3DO fare in my rigorous test drive? Stay tuned for next week’s remarkable post…