Spotlight Talk
Three Degrees of Freedom: Engagement, Flow and Feedback in Virtual Reality Systems
Date Thursday, Nov 24 Time –
While virtual reality systems have been in circulation since the 1990s, the concept of VR and three dimensional environments go back to Charles Wheatstone in the late nineteenth century. But while VR does date back that far, meaningful, interactive and engaging experiences are really only beginning to become widespread today.
With a new lease of life with XR, VR, AR and Games technologies are just beginning to take hold and over the pandemic lockdowns a greater priority is being placed upon stepping beyond 2D video communications and developing a sense of presence. This talk aims to provide an up-to-date view on where the research and technology stands today, bringing together an overview of the meta reviews in the fields of research, looking at the new technologies and how lightweight they are becoming, considering the market and highlighting case studies of interest.
The talk aims to inform the participants of the state of the art in virtual technologies and foreground the future for immersive technologies as a whole. Participants will leave the talk knowing more about VR systems of today, having a good feel for where the current research is and will understand the main questions and considerations for the future of the technology. The talk will appeal to academics, researchers and industry managers and specialists and provide food for thought for policy making and practitioners.
- The talk will provide an overview of the current VR systems in circulation today.
- The talk will provide an overview of the current research on VR systems.
- The talk will provide a good understanding of future directions for VR systems usage and research.
Sara de Freitas
BT Professor, Director of the Digital Futures Institute and DigiTech Centre, University of Suffolk, UK, Wey Education Plc, United Kingdom
Sara is a leading international educator in online and game-based education. She is the Executive Director of Education at the award-winning Wey Education PLC. Sara has held senior roles in research and education in 6 universities in the UK and Australia, as Director of Research, Pro and Deputy Vice-Chancellor. She has held professorships for 15 years, leading 58 Research and development projects. As an author and speaker, she has published seven books and 100 scientific papers. Sara is a Non-Executive Board member for Sunderland University, and has received honors and awards from the Royal Society, University of London and the Business Excellence Institute.
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Moderator
Ildiko Mazar
European Digital Credentials for Learning Implementation Support, NTT Data, Spain
During her 25 years of professional practice in the field of open education and e-learning Ildiko has observed and engaged in policy dialogues, professional academic collaborations, and practice exchange, actively contributing to the modernisation of European Higher Education and education technology in general. Utilising her experience, expertise and transversal skills, she contributed to the conception, management and successful implementation of 50+ edtech projects. For the past 5 years she has been focusing mostly on the development and uptake of innovative solutions in the fields of competence development and (micro-)credentialing. Since 2019 she has been supporting the European Commission in deploying the European Learning Model and European Digital Credentials for Learning.