Forward leap into the metaverse: integrating VR/AR and haptics in STEM education

Our work has been selected by the editors as the cover of the forthcoming issue of the Robotics journal.

Cover Story (view full-size image): With the introduction of the metaverse, the virtual digital world is going to take a conceptual leap forward. As technology progresses, bringing us new immersive worlds, we must adapt how we educate students and equip teachers to face these new challenges. In this perspective, hands-on laboratory work and practical experience are currently under-supported. This is especially crucial in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects. In this work, a unique strategy to attain multisensory learning in STEM education by combining virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) with haptic wearables is proposed. The implications of this novel viewpoint on established pedagogical notions are discussed. The goal is to support initiatives throughout the world to make fully immersive, open, and remote laboratory learning a reality. View this paper

This research was funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ Program under Grant 2020-1-NO01-KA203-076540, project title Integrating virtual and AUGMENTED reality with WEARable technology into engineering EDUcation (AugmentedWearEdu), https://augmentedwearedu.uia.no/. This work was also supported by the Top Research Centre Mechatronics (TRCM), University of Agder (UiA), Norway.

I really thank all my co-authors and I congratulate all of them for their contribution.