Remote Labs with Mixed Reality

In no time, we will be in one with the digital world. When it comes, it will feel like something out of science fiction, but it will turn out to be true. Metaverse is now in sight with a handful of us. We are slowly becoming what we see in the movies before, like interacting with pixels to touching holograms. Augmented reality has become a part of our daily lives. While these may appear far-off fantasies, they are far closer to our lives than ever before.

Augmented reality overlays digital items into our physical environment, usually via a smartphone screen. If I remember correctly, AR started with the game industry. It augments our gameplays with realistic interaction. I still remember that Pokemon Go was a hit and became a craze. Pokemon Go was one of the first games to use augmented reality that did so in a way that was intuitive and fun. They made dreams a reality for the avid Pokemon fans to experience catching Pokemon in the real world.

I played Pokemon Go and attempted to catch a Pokemon too. It was a liberating experience that what we thought of as fiction and anime can be augmented in real life. When thinking of anime characters and elements like Pokemon and Pokeball, we want to experience them. We often dream of catching Pokemons, especially the boys. With augmented reality, we can do them as if we are characters from the Pokemon show. That is just a glimpse of what augmented reality can do for us.

We are sometimes confused and make mistakes by associating augmented reality with virtual reality. Our body and mind exist in a Spatio-temporal setting that we perceive as reality. Virtual reality is a Spatio-temporal environment that is purely virtual and not overlaid over the physical environment. AR takes our physical environment to a new experience by laying out the digital object to boos our experiences of the space around us. VR immerses us in a different environment from what was around us.

Augmented reality implies virtual reality added to our reality to flare up our experience with the world around us, which doesn't overwhelm our reality but complements it. AR emphasize bringing digital elements into our physical surroundings rather than the other way around. AR doesn't limit to displays and visual stimuli. It includes audio, haptic, olfactory, and gustatory, but it seems more complicated than the former.

With Metaverse becoming more relevant to date, AR will continue to shake and shatter previous beliefs that our experience of our world is more than what we can physically perceive. For some, AR simply images and 3D models that code and algorithm enable it. Some people don't understand well how AR is beyond face value. The avid fans and technologies will say it in the future, with Metaverse and blockchain.

More than the smartphone and 3D glasses, AR brings virtual objects as an extension of ourselves to the physical world. It is possibly the start of new definitions of cybernetics. If we pay close attention, we will see that it is more than the game it used to be first thought before. We can see a new horizon of Spatio-temporal experience that will boost our ingeniousness and creativity. The potential of latent space is limitless. I can't wait to see how it unfolds and be a go-to lifestyle for the masses.

It is not a good thing to be thankful for the pandemic. I would be crazy if I say it, but in one way or another, we can't deny that everything altered when the pandemic struck, and there are good things that happened despite the world turning upside down in the pandemic. The end of the pandemic is uncertain, even with the rollout of vaccines. Our life should move to how we used to do things.

We evolve with tools to adapt to the changes occurring in our time. Tools and inventions are the critical links to the success and collapse of our humanity. We as a species have forgotten how we employed technology more advanced than our own. Amidst the pandemic, we prove how technology enables us to continue our lives. Most people began working from home, and education moved online. The internet and associated technology became relevant more than ever.

Most people began working from home, and education moved online. My day job is at the university, giving lectures or supervising the laboratory. With the pandemic, no laboratory work, and we deferred laboratories until health protocols permit. Again, the pandemic is always uncertain as to when it ends. That is why admins tried to make lab accessible virtually using virtual, augmented and mixed reality.

Even our lives will not return to the way they used to be. We can still work and allow our deferred lab schedule to commence. We employed simulators. Recently, VR and AR spaces mimicked the lab. The use of simulators is not new since engineering fields used them before the pandemic. Even the concept of AR isn't. It just became more relevant as we thrive with the pandemic.

When I first heard before the pandemic, it was unsuitable and unripe to be part of the tools to enhance lab experience and skills training. But it dawned on me that it was not perfect timing when pitched before. With the pandemic paused our lives, it became more significant as our routines immobilized.

Augmented reality gives those who haven't finished their lab courses yet to comply. It became an excellent alternative for what we do in real space. I can't wait to see how it progresses and integrates when the new normal comes back. Virtual and augmented reality space is more important than ever.

We can't deny that the learning gap widens with the pandemic at hand. It will become more visible as years unfolds. The gap between theoretical and experimental knowledge has broadened to a point where drops out and skill gaps are evident. With AR and VR, we can substantially reduce the learning gap and eventually give enough room for an interactive experience. Aside from that, AR and Vr offer intuitive platforms to experiment at extreme without the associated risk.

No one will proudly say that the new norm will be easy, but everyone will agree that it is achievable with adequate preparation of suitable, effective, and long-term interventions. Learning should never end. We should learn to thrive in a world where coronavirus exists. Learning should also be secure. AR and VR technologies will help us to become better and have a solution to possible future repercussions.

We can't deny that we can't live without our phones. It becomes an extension of ourselves. Maybe, it is the new norm for cybernetics. We pick up our phones countless times every day and spend more than a month on them each year. Our infatuation with technology will only worsen with AR and Metaverse in the mix.

With augmented reality and the Metaverse, we won't be able to glance up from our screens and into the pure, unadulterated world for even a second. We will have our screen immersive to what we see around us. We may never be truly present again. But it will help us progress far beyond, despite having the pandemic at hand.

As augmented reality technology advances, so does its range of applications. With the prevalence of smartphones and the rising complexity of both AR and other forms of technology, the question of how to incorporate AR into our daily lives is increasingly one of degree rather than feasibility. There is nothing far greater than extending realities far from what we can perceive physically and digitally.

I had a positive encounter with augmented reality. How much more so when we have a better spatial experience link to the Metaverse? When the line between our constructed and virtual worlds dissolves, we will no longer have spaces that will limit us to a single spatial experience. When a billion people are virtually standing in the same area simultaneously, we may establish a space to engage without being halted, not even the pandemic. I can't wait to see how far it improves us.

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Featured Photos:

All photos are courtesy of the author. Taken from our AR and VR lab.

Readings

1. N.Arulananda, A. RameshBabub, and P.K.Rajeshc, Enriched Learning Experience using Augmented Reality Framework in Engineering Education, Procedia Computer Science

2. Xei et. al., A Review on Virtual Reality Skill Training Applications, Frontiers in Virtual Reality

3. Cipresso et. al., The Past, Present, and Future of Virtual and Augmented Reality Research: A Network and Cluster Analysis of the Literature, Frontiers in Psychology

4. Bin Kamarudin, Muhammad Fadzil and Zary, Nabil., Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and Mixed Reality in Medical Education: A Comparative Web of Science Scoping Review, ResearchGate

5. Nesenbergs et. al., Use of Augmented and Virtual Reality in Remote Higher Education: A Systematic Umbrella Review, MDPI's Education Sciences