Facing reality

Note : All Viralelt posts share the same structure. Teacher’s notes appear only on How to use Viralelt. This is done to keep “teacher text” to a minimum and avoid repetition.

The following short video by Keiichi Matsuda depicts daily life in a futuristic, media-saturated world where the boundaries between virtual and physical are blurred by omnipresent and ever more immersive technologies. As your students watch the video, you may like to ask them to make a mental or physical note of as many examples of “augmented reality” (AR) as they can.

(RVC) = Jump to related video clip.

1. How do you react to the video you’ve just seen? Is your reaction largely positive or largely negative?
2. In the following situations, do you think augmented reality will be a useful resource or an unwanted distraction?
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   > travelling on public transport
   > visiting a museum
   > spending a day in the country
   > having a drink with a friend
   > having a family meal
   > driving or walking somewhere
   > doing homework or revision
   > visiting a city
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3. How might the use of AR affect face-to-face communication, especially between people who have just met each other? (RVC)
4. It is clear that augmented reality will have a big impact on buying and selling in consumer societies. How do you think AR will affect shopping, marketing and advertising?
5. Who will decide or control what information is overlaid on the real world in AR environments?
6. Do you think we will be able to cope with the amount of information AR will make available to us, or will we feel completely overwhelmed?
7. Many people are worried about the possible threat to privacy that AR might pose in the future. What do you think?
8. “In the future, it won’t be worth learning anything because the answer to all our questions will be instantly projected in front of our eyes.” Do you agree?
9. How would you explain the difference between physical reality, augmented reality and virtual reality? How much of our lives do you think we will we spend in each?
10. Do you think AR will make our daily lives more fun or less fun? Do you think people will lead happier lives in their “augmented” realities?

Which two of the above questions are being discussed?

Download “Question time” and the “Sitting comfortably?” script in an editable Word document here.

A : AR in ELT
If you want to get an idea how augmented reality might impact on language teaching, have a look at Paul Driver‘s ground-breaking work on using AR to deliver language content and provide new engaging contexts for project-based learning. Paul’s latest project (The Listening Post), which blends AR, kinetic typography, and spatial sound, has recently been nominated for an ELTon “Digital Innovation” award.

B : Have a go yourself

If you fancy having a go at AR yourself, why not create your own digitally enhanced view of the real world with Aurasma, a free mobile app that uses advanced image recognition to trigger interactive overlays such as videos, animations, and images. 

C : More videos

“Sight”. A short futuristic film by Eran May-raz and Daniel Lazo. 

“A New Morning”. The latest clip (April 201) from Silicon Valley’s most mysterious and secretive AR start-up Magic Leap.

Magic Leap’s “Whale”. The most spectacular example of AR that Viralelt has seen to date.

Thanks for dropping by! | Viralelt by Tefltecher

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