The First Pilot of the Course Module Augmented Reality

Codereality has successfully piloted the course module on Augmented Reality. On February 18-22, 2019 we organized a full-time ‘blocked’ course hosted by Oxford Brooked University. The blocked course is a part of the 12-weeks course module Augmented Reality, which will continue until end of April. The face-to-face part of the course was attended by 26 students from five partner universities and some external participants. All the classes were life-streamed for the students from partner universities who signed up for the course but could not attend in person, altogether over 60 participants.

Course Module Augmented Reality

This course presents an introduction to Augmented Reality, with emphasis on designing and developing Augmented Reality applications. The course starts with a comprehensive introduction to the field, covering also its history with early precursors dating back to the 19th century and with more than half a century of serious technology R&D. The course then introduces to the state of the art of hardware and software, with practical try-out possibilities of Smart Glasses, interactive clothing, and other futuristic technology. The course covers all you need to know about Spatial Computing, Human Computer Interaction, Perception, Design Thinking, and Application Development. A rich mix of theory and practice is complemented with methodology and hands-on development and evaluation. Insights into specialist application areas and job perspectives will help sharpen your skill set. As part of the course, students will be tasked with designing, developing, and evaluating their own Augmented Reality application.

The course module comprised of a mix of lectures and practical tutorials delivered by 11 teachers from the partner universities and two invited speakers from Microsoft:

  • Lecture 1: Introduction to AR, Dr Fridolin Wild
  • Lecture 2: HCl methodologies, Alla Vovk
  • Lecture 3: Perception, Alla Vovk
  • Tutorial 1: Modelling AR UI/UX, Alla Vovk
  • Lecture 4: Software Engineering, PD Dr Ralf Klamma
  • Tutorial 2: New Business Development, PD Dr Ralf Klamma
  • Lecture 5: Technology Overview, Dr Fridolin Wild
  • Tutorial 3: Markers, Jazz Rasool
  • Lecture 6: Geometric Algebra, Dr Carlos Fresnada Portillo
  • Lecture 7: Story Telling with AR, Carl Smith and Jim Hensman
  • Tutorial 4: 3D modelling, Mark Ransley
  • Tutorial 5: Gesture interaction, Will Guest
  • Tutorial 6: Gaze interaction, Joshua Secretan
  • Tutorial 7: Voice interaction, Joshua Secretan
  • Tutorial 8: Spatial Understanding, Will Guest
  • Tutorial 9: 3D scan and animation, Yu Huang
  • Lecture 8: Careers in AR, Joanna Jesionkowska
  • Lecture 9: Design Inspiration, Dave Hamblin (Microsoft)
  • Invited talk: Future of Mixed Reality, Dan Ayoub (Microsoft)
  • Lecture 10: Research Directions, Carl Smith and Dr Fridolin Wild

But most importantly, we had a group of engaged and smart students with diverse backgrounds from arts to engineering!

In addition to the lectures and tutorials delivered in the blocked course, the students are working on projects which are assessed at three reviews. These team projects will be the basis for grading.

The course module is being developed by a team from five European universities withing the AR-FOR-EU project. The educational content and resources of the course will be improved and piloted again in 2020, both in a face-to-face format and in an online format as a MOOC.