Analysis and development of virtual reality (VR) technology for a virtual learning environment

Abstract

With the exponential increase in demand changes present in today’s markets, several companies discovered that the current education and training provided to engineers are no longer effective to maintain the high level of competence in terms of knowledge and skills required. From reviewing Extended Reality (XR) technologies which are known for their state of the art in industry, it was observed that such companies are shifting towards new learning methods which utilise digitalisation within their education. It was also noticed that apart from the new opportunities, the shift to these learning methods presented new challenges. This study aims to provide a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) where engineering students are able to learn and understand better the layout of one of the laboratories found within the engineering building. A waterfall methodology was employed to develop an effective VLE which meets the students’ learning expectations. The VLE requirements were obtained from literature and different learning concepts were considered before opting for the scenario where the goal was to familiarise students with the layout of a virtual laboratory. This scenario was then implemented into Unity and the virtual laboratory was accessed through Virtual Reality (VR) whereby the user was able to navigate through the different areas of the laboratory. An evaluation was conducted where a sample of students tried out the virtual learning experience. By using a validation process, which compared the VLE with a traditional learning approach, as well as collecting feedback from students using a questionnaire, the VLE was assessed with regards to its effectiveness in transferring knowledge. Results obtained indicate that the VLE was preferred over the other learning approach. Moreover, by means of the validation process, it was observed that knowledge retention of the content provided improved when the VLE was used. This study aims to provide a gainful insight into the different steps required to create, test and validate a VLE in an educational setting. Indeed, findings from this study show that the use of VR and VLEs would greatly benefit the education sector since an increase in student motivation and interest was observed. Nonetheless, the traditional learning approaches should not be eliminated by the newer approaches but should go hand-in-hand. This is because knowledge transfer takes place in shorter periods of time if both approaches are amalgamated together.