Learning virtual and augmented reality is more popular than ever, but it always has faults. Northeast researchers have turned to escape rooms to find out how AI could help students better learn to use immersive technology.
In recent years, virtual and augmented reality has become more and more popular in education, but there is always a central and persistent question: how can students learn with this technology?
It is always difficult for educators to find a way to get students to think about what they learn with equipment attached to their heads. How to get them to think more about the lesson without breaking their immersion in a virtual educational experience? Researchers from the Northeastern University found the answer in an unlikely place: the escape rooms.
Immersive and interactive puzzle games that put players in a physical space and try them to find clues to go out, the escape rooms have become a global craze. They could also be the key to understanding how technology like VR and AI could be more effectively integrated into classrooms, according to a recent newspaper Published by researchers from the Northeast.
“Instead of learning scientists to talk about how people reflect and how you help people when they solve problems, we thought:” Well, escape rooms are already doing this. Let's already talk to the facilitators of the escape room (about) of how they manage the experience as well as the problem solving and the clues they look at, what they do, what they have, “says,” said problems and the clues they look at, what they do, what they have, “says,” problems and clues they look at, what they do, “says problems and clues CASPER HARTEVELDGame design teacher at Northeastern.
The researchers of the project interviewed 13 esculitators of escape room, or players, to learn their best practices and how they guide their players through an immersive experience like this. Thanks to these conversations, they have acquired valuable information on how immersive education can be better deployed, with the final aim of creating opposing “AI” agents that can help students in VR and AR learning environments.
The masters of the evacuation room generally do two things when you run players through a puzzle, says Harteveld. They observe their players through hidden cameras throughout the room, ensuring that players progress and find clues. If the players are stuck, GMS will intervene by providing advice.
“We have a model of how GMs provide help when they constantly observe what players do, then choose to intervene or not according to their observations,” explains Erica Kleinman, postdoctoral researcher on the project. “They constantly adapt everything they do according to how players react to the room, respond and respond to their help.”
Some players may never want to receive help, while others could ask for more help. It is GM's work to assess when and how to get the players to think about the puzzle in a way that does not break the immersion and who meet the players where they are.
“The escape rooms already have a kind of reflective incentive integrated there because you have GM to help you,” explains Kleinman. “It is natural that someone says:” Hey, I noticed that you are stuck. Have you thought about what you did the last time you got stuck? “”
GMs must constantly think about how players are progressing, how they feel as they progress and how to deploy aid when they could struggle. A current method uses what researchers call an “incremental scaffolding of the aid”, offering a vague index, then gradually providing more specific advice if players still need help.
“Personalization, adaptation, this is where we want education to go, and the facilitators of the escape room already do it,” explains Harteveld.
Although there are lessons to learn for educators, Harteveld says that the final objective of this research is to design an AI model that can make learning in virtual and AR more productive for students.
By adapting the methods used by Escape Room GMS, they hope to create a tool that will help learning a student, and not to shorten it.
“The AI should increase our intelligence, and this requires an AI that scaffolds and helps you and guides you as opposed to” give the answer “and you get the answer,” explains Harteveld. “Basically, what we really develop is a favorable reflection because we want AI to help you think about what you do to improve yourself and put yourself in the (good) direction.”
In the future, Harteveld says that his team creates an escape room that will allow them to test their AI model. The escape room is still in development, but Harteveld hopes that their work will not only shape how immersive learning is used to move forward, but how we think of our relationship with AI.
“Help should make players feel with the solution themselves,” says Harteveld. “It's really empowering players, and it's something you can translate into AI. You always want humans to do the job. ”
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At Learnopoly, Finn has championed a mission to deliver unbiased, in-depth reviews of online courses that empower learners to make well-informed decisions. With over a decade of experience in financial services, he has honed his expertise in strategic partnerships and business development, cultivating both a sharp analytical perspective and a collaborative spirit. A lifelong learner, Finn’s commitment to creating a trusted guide for online education was ignited by a frustrating encounter with biased course reviews.