Current use of AR & AI
The market for AR & AI tools is already large and growing annually. The aviation industry as well as the automobile have been earlier adopters of the use of the tools. The AR market in aviation is already projected to grow from USD 78 million in 2019 to USD 1,372 million by 2025, according to ResearchAndMarkets.com. Augmented reality (AR) technology permits computer-generated data or imagery to overlay physical objects accurately in real-time. AR enhances the perception of users, and the provided information helps them perform tasks in the real world. It is widely used in areas such as employee training and video conferencing. In healthcare, Precision OS Technology, a company that offers AR training solutions to healthcare professionals, was able to train 300+ professionals in half an hour, along with a 570% gain in learning efficiency. Developers are leveraging AI algorithms to offer AR features like enhanced interaction with the surrounding physical environment. Industries combining AR & AI include construction (site planning, revision and inspection), entertainment (interactive games, concerts, movies), medicine (surgical navigation), logistics (warehouse planning), manufacturing (design and prototyping), military, real estate, retail fashion and of course education (scene expedition, model experiments).
When it comes to the specific use of AR & AI as a means of persuasion the current markets are in advertising and wearable healthcare. The potential is huge as I will explore...
The case for AR&AI in Education and Training
The use of AR&AI has been slow to be embraced in sector outside of video gaming, but they are growing across all sectors including specifically education. AR alone has the potential to revolutionize the training industry completely, without the added potential of the use of AI. The role of artificial intelligence in augmented reality cannot be understated. The high demands placed upon augmented reality software cannot rely solely on human programming. AI, specifically machine learning can accomplish these tasks with far higher efficiency and can improve augmented reality experiences drastically.
Spending on AR technology hit $60 billion in 2020 - Harvard Business Review
Convergence
of disperate ways of sharing knowledge
The use of AR & AI enables for the convergence of multiple different approaches in our current shifting learning paradigm. In an AR-powered world (with inbuilt AI features to simulate and design learning/training scenarios), employees will be able to interact in simulated environments, streamlining both communication and skills development. This leads to in-the-moment learning, hence blurring the lines between training and knowledge sharing, and empowering students/employees to have a more central role in shaping their learning or role. Students and employees will constantly be learning while doing, rather than learning or training being a separate activity to applying knowledge.
"AR will become the new interface between humans and machines", say Michael E. Porter of Harvard and James E. Heppelmann, the CEO of the industrial software maker PTC.
HANDS-ON
Rather than asking learning to 'imagine' scenarios or contexts AR enables them to experience and text. The use of AI then enables the AR scenario or context to respond to the user in real-time
ALL SECTORS
The interest in AR & AI learning and training is evident in private companies but also across the public sectors including local governemnt offices and the military
LXP
The creation of a Learning Experience Platform which hosts an entire library of augmented video materials that can be consumed either via dedicated glasses or on smartphones
Simulated role-play
A learner/user will practice the soft skills (particularly on sensitive issues such as race, gender & sexuality) and receive direct feedback from the AI tool based on their performance.
I have been fascinated with AR technologies for a number of years now. I have created a number of experiences within my capacity as faculty within the University of British Columbia Prevention including a location aware app of the political economy of Downtown Vancouver and a immersive movement app on Syrian refugees in Vancouver. My experience with these, and the research I followed up with led me to think about the persuasive power of technologies when coupled together with an immersive learning experience. I have really enjoyed the opportunity over the past three weeks to really delve deeper into thinking about how AR & AI tools can be leveraged in persuasive education and training. It is an emerging field (especially with the AI component) bu the interest and the investment opportunities are there as I have found in my research. Acting as an EVA for the general approach of persuasive technologies has enabled me to see the amazing potential the use of AR & AI have, but also the barriers as institutions and companies are slow to change how they engage in teaching and training. The use of AR & AI in marketing, construction and healthcare has proven incredible successful, and I will contend that I see it being used much more in training within private companies and larger public institutions (such as the military) before I see it being used in schools, or higher education contexts.
For assignment #3 I intend to harness this growing interest of the use of AR & AI as persuasive tools for training within private companies as I design my own venture on how to tackle issues of harassment and discrimination in the workplace. I realize that I will be entering into a new field in how training is designed and delivered within private companies, but the research and examples I have found for this assignment have convinced me that the potential is there. I acknowledge that I am 'pioneering' in this first assignment and my idea for assignment #3, but I do believe that more educators need to step outside their comfort zones and engage with the digital world and its possibilities.