This is the second experiment we conducted in Spanish 101 class with the aid of Augmented Reality models (experiment 1). Dr. Socorro Zaragoza wanted to determine what effects does AR have on student language speaking, writing, reading, listening skills as well as the language comprehension.
Each experiment corresponded to the textbook lesson for SPA 101 and the goal of each experiment was to determine if Augmented Reality influenced student learning. The second lesson/experiment was a scene of a typical coffee shop which contained the following components: blond girl (rubia), black guy (moreno), young person (joven), old person (vieja), poor person (pobre), rich person (rica), tall person (alto), short person (bajo), skinny (flaca), chubby (gordo), new (nuevo), old (viejo)(Figure 1).
Figure 1: Textbook coffee shop left and our model on the right.
We designed the textbook replica of the coffee shop in Google SketchUp. Google SketchUp is simple to use and Google 3D marketplace offers myriad of free 3D models that can be imported into the scene you are designing. For example, if you are building a classroom and need a desk, you click on the import models button in SketchUp, search for desk and once you select the one you like, you can import it into SketchUp. Below you can see the video of a complete model used in the class.
Once we had our model of a classroom in a 3DS file, the course instructor decided that this will be a collaborative exercise. Students will be working in groups and be able to freely manipulate the AR markers with their hands. We visited the experimental classroom and loaded each computer with a BuildAR viewer, premade scene (loaded with marker and resized classroom model) and a Logitech 9000 Web cams (6 in total). Figures 2 and 3 and the video below depict the image of a classroom desk with a computer, and loaded AR viewer and student interaction.
Second AR Experiment – February 04, 2011
Download source files here (SPA 101 3D classroom files, AR marker and marker PDF file). We posted a brief instructional video on how to open up a scene on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3C97PPTinE
