Next-Generation Edutainment with Augmented Reality
As a parent of a 5 year old I’m more than engaged in the ongoing conversation about all aspects of education as he approaches school age. This includes considering the role of technology in their education.
We’ve chosen an unconventional school for our child’s early years, and are very happy that he isn’t already learning fact after fact that he’ll have time for later (if at all).
However whilst we’re actively engaged in embracing the concept that children can learn ably without electronic media, I know (a) as our children become adults they’ll be using technology in ways that we haven’t considered yet; (b) technology will mean that the types of jobs and lifestyle they’ll have will be different to our own; and (c) that children learn more effectively through interactivity, not just in black and white text.
INDE takes our position in the education business very seriously, as we’ve shown through our work with the Discovery Channel, the BBC, National Geographic and the WWF. We know the power of engaging digital context as a way to drive awareness of space, science, wildlife and environmental issues.
We believe that learning should be fun. Children can be inspired and entertained at the same time. And we know that educationally sound content can be designed to be entertaining also. This combination creates an extremely powerful learning tool.
We also know that AR allows you to engage, educate and entertain in a new way. INDE’s BroadcastAR family – including our new HeroMirror AR “Kiosk” – as well as our mobile solutions have all been designed to be able to delivery high quality, engaging educational content.
As an early recipient of Microsoft’s Hololens SDK we are experiencing first hand what “wearables” can add as an “Edutainment” tool.
Microsoft HoloLens lets users interact with virtual holograms and real objects in their physical world.
Using AR is an increasingly attractive way - at home, in classrooms, where history teachers could take students on a "class trip" to the Colosseum in Rome. They could pose for a picture, personalising the education experience, and therefore enhancing its memorability (which INDE’s SnapShare technology makes this already possible).
We think that we’ve barely scratched the surface of the opportunities available in Edutainment, but are well placed – with our expertise not only in designing software but also end-to-end solutions – to develop powerful next generation educational experiences.