FETC Preview

The Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC) is shaping up to be a must-attend event in Orlando, January 24-27. One of the largest and most innovative ed-tech conferences in the country, FETC has a long history of exceeding expectations. Here is a preview of what to expect in the arena of VR and 3D. I hope to see you there!

Expo

The exhibit hall this year will bring a number of players in both the 3D and VR fields to our attention. Samsung, Google, Nearpod, and Best Buy will likely be showing their popular VR solutions. Sensavis will return with their excellent 3D visualization content. A stalwart in the 3D and VR industry, Eon Reality will exhibit for the first time at FETC. And the venerable zSpace will be back in the house with their unique desktop virtual reality. (zSpace has won best of show at two consecutive ISTE conferences.)

Workshops

Four workshops will be offered with a VR meme: two by Samsung, one focused on Google Expeditions, a do-it-yourself virtual reality content creation workshop by Eon Reality, and my own in-depth VR workshop, described below.

Sessions

Concurrent sessions will offer a few interesting opportunities to learn about VR in education. One district will be presenting about their Nearpod immersive project, while innovators from North Carolina State University will do a deep dive into desktop virtual reality, focusing on zSpace technology. I will also be doing a session on Virtual Reality and a surprisingly positive connection to early learning/reading, entitled “See to Achieve: Virtual Reality, 3D, Vision, and Learning.”

My Sessions

Of course, I have to do a shameless plug for my own workshop. The FETC 3D VR Bootcamp (EDW070) is a distinctive experience, a very non-traditional workshop, to say the least. This workshop uses both a flipped learning model and a fishbowl approach to make for the ultimate in personalization. It will be offered from 5-7:30 pm on Thursday, January 26.  This highly popular

workshop will help you dig deeper, and go beyond the hype. We will explore 3D VR content, low cost options for VR headgear; teaching strategies; instructional weaknesses in the technology; how to deal with VR vision discomfort; managing VR in the classroom; disinfecting headgear; zSpace and their award-winning desktop VR; VR visualization spaces; and, of course, next-up developments to you can expect to see. Please join us!

@InfoComm 2014

At InfoComm 2014, poking my head into corners it certainly didn’t belong in, I searched for promising trends, developments, and products in the 3D realm that might offer value for the education world. Here’s what caught my attention for immediate application:

Eon Reality’s iCube Mobile. Featured in the Panasonic booth.  the iCube Mobile is a portable, lower-cost “show-and-go” version of an immersive 3D cave or hive. See this video. It worked quite nicely and offers excellent value to any educational setting, because of the mobility advantage.

Wolf Vision
3D Document Camera

Wolfvision’s 3D document camera redux. Wolfvision is offering a new feature in their ceiling-mounted 3D document camera: the ability to record in 3D.

Displaying 3D with the WolfVision Ceiling-mounted
Document Camera

WorldViz Virtual Reality. There I stood, using Oculus Rift headgear and the WorldViz virtual reality engine, being blithely transported to a truly immersive experience as the bustle of InfoComm 2014 disappeared from my virtual existence. WorldViz was demonstrating applications for their VR development engine and highlighting in print their low cost, portable stereo 3D WorldViz Corner Cave. Both tools, they suggested, offered real advantage for educational applications.  They already have a number of educational institutions and inquiring.  That’s no surprise. See this video:

April Showers, 3D Flowers

Here are some April 3D happenings worth your notice:

3D Sketchup BaseCamp. SketchUp 3D Basecamp 2014 will take place April 14th–16th in Vail, Colorado. Sponsors promise lots of meeting space, reliable internet, affordable lodging and terrific food for this “designing in rendered-3D” event. According to the sponsors, registration is easy and there’s nothing standing between you and the best mid-April of your life.

5^th Annual VREP Showcase. The annual Virtual Reality Educational Pathfinder student competition continues to grow and mature. Students demonstrate the rendered, stereoscopic, and printed 3D projects they have developed throughout the year. It’s a great event to locate student interns. This year’s event is being held April 9^th in Des Moines, Iowa, and it’s still not too late to get involved. The students would like to have feedback from you on what they can do to improve. You can go to the www.vrep.org web page and register to attend the VREP event.  See the VREP Showcase Agenda for more details.

Eon Experience Workshop. Eon Reality is offering two days of presentations, hands-on Virtual Reality technology demonstration, and a first-hand look at EON’s flagship Entrepreneur School on April 10-11, in Manchester, United Kingdom. According to Eon Reality, “the Manchester Interactive Digital Center serves as EON’s European Headquarters and its state of the art Virtual Reality technology, development lab, and artistic resources help meet the growing demands for Interactive Digital Media in Europe and beyond.” This event allows you to explore Virtual and Augmented Reality technologies and exchange ideas with global VR experts, unpacking how interactive and immersive 3D technologies can help increase sales, better communicate product functionality, improve user training, or lower costs. Details can be found at the registration site.