#EduXR organising committee
TUS Athlone hosted the inaugural one-day symposium on ‘shaping the future of immersive technologies in education and training’ on Wednesday, 14th May from 9.30-4.30pm.
The event was sponsored by ReSHAPE and co-funded also by the HEA National Forum’s Strategic Alignment of Teaching and Learning Enhancement (SATLE).
The event was a collaborative initiative, spearheaded by the Centre for Pedagogical Innovation and Development (CPID) in TUS and supported by colleagues from VR Special Interest Group in TUS, as well as colleagues from SETU, MTU, UCD, Louth-Meath Education and Training Board and Dunboyne College of Further Education.
Keynote for the symposium was Professor Chris Headleand, University of Staffordshire, who set the scene for the day, outlining some of the key developments in immersive technologies and highlighting the importance of collaboration across different sectors.
The event also included presentations from educators and researchers across a range of disciplines, as well as a panel discussion, which included representatives from further education, industry, academia and the student community.
A ‘GASTA’ session, facilitated by Dr Tom Farrelly from MTU, provided an opportunity for presenters to give a 5-minute insight into their projects, in a session that required audience participation, while the Exhibitor Spotlight session invited exhibitors to provide an overview of the work they do.
The list of exhibitors included Eirmersive, emagine, Fourth Reality, ReSHAPE, Mersus Technologies, DASBE, IEEE, Foroige, Youth Work Ireland, and Bodyswaps as well as research projects from AllianceXR (UCD), Project Solomon (MTU), and Transmixrr (TUS).
The event also hosted a student competition with three distinct categories:
- Best social impact project: this category focuses on how individuals and communities learn, work, connect, and interact. It includes education, healthcare, and takes note of the Sustainable Development Goals.
- Best technical innovation project- this category focuses on technical innovativeness in creating the project, and includes the functionality, performance, and user experience of immersive systems.
- Best aesthetic production project– this category focuses on the design that shapes the emotional experience of the user. The aesthetic quality directly impacts how immersive a VR/AR experience feels and plays a vital role in achieving engagement and a sense of presence.
The standard of student submissions was excellent and both first and second prize was awarded for each category.
The event closed with an invited speaker from Eirmersive, who provided an overview of the landscape at European level and the opportunities that are available for research and development in immersive tech.
A sincere thank you to all those who helped organise the event, as well as those who attended. We hope you enjoyed the day, made new connections and left with lots of ideas for collaboration.
The #EduXR organising committee
