Building a sustainable city in Augmented Reality (AR)

Using augmented reality (AR) in Ludenso Create to create a model of a sustainable city in the future. Learners can create 3D objects or engage in simulated environments and gain experiences to a specific domain.

Abstract: In our first training module we wanted to create an activity where the learners could participate and be involved in a creating process. Augmented reality (AR) is an enhanced technology that originated from virtual reality (VR), but in AR the purpose is to augment virtual objects into real life environments. In our training module we chose to use Ludenso Create - https://www.ludenso.com/create/ Ludenso Create is an open and free website from the Norwegian company Ludenso. This is an easy-to-use AR creation tool that lets students visualize their ideas in 3D, and share their own objects as unique AR experiences. Keywords: Sustainability challenge, augmented reality, Ludenso Create, immersive technologies, 3D modelling, mixed reality. The resource list: Access to the website, https://www.ludenso.com/ using a computer or other devices that can access the website. Install the app Ludenso Create from Apple Store – (https://apps.apple.com/no/app/ludenso-create/id1527754233?l=nb) or Google Play (https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Ludenso+AS). The app must be installed on a smartphone or an iPad.  There should be at least 4-5 AR glasses, for instance MagiMask - https://www.aniwaa.com/product/vr-ar/ludenso-magimask/

Sustainability is the key to obtain a better future for us all. Our planet and future rely upon awareness and actions to protect our ecosystem and preserve the natural resources for future generations. Sustainability is an essential concept as we have come to realize the environmental challenges and our current energy crisis in our global system. Using augmented reality can give students insight and a deeper understanding of the topic by creating 3D objects and experiencing their own creations in augmented reality.  Research indicates that immersive technologies can have a positive impact on students' learning, but as this technology has little uptime in school, there is a lack of knowledge about how the technology can be pedagogically anchored (Todd et al. 2016). In March 2021 the University of Stavanger published a report from a research project on pedagogical use of augmented reality in primary schools - https://ebooks.uis.no/index.php/USPS/catalog/book/73 (available in Norwegian only). One of the primary findings in this research was that AR technology and immersion can be an entrance to in-depth learning.

The assignment is titled “The sustainability challenge”. The purpose for this assignment is to challenge the students to look into the future and visualize how the cities could look like or should look like in the future, a hundred years from now on.  The assignment has two criteria: 1. Mission for sustainability The year is 2122. You and your classmates/fellow students have received a mission to build a sustainable future city. The city needs to be smartly built with the use of energy supply and have other sustainable solutions to maintain the city. What would your dream house and dream city look like in 100 years? Use your imagination! Tips! You can benefit from drawing the city by hand before you start building in 3D and start using the Ludenso Create Teacher version: https://www.ludenso.com/create/teacher Student version: https://www.ludenso.com/create/student 2. Set up a virtual classroom. To gather all your future homes in one city the teacher needs to create a gallery in Ludenso Create, so that each student can log in with the code you receive from the teacher. Show the sustainable solutions you have come up with during the challenge and explain to the class your thoughts. Why is this your preferred future home/building and how could it fit into the future city? 3. Explore creations and the future city in AR glasses or on a tablet Download the Ludenso app to an AR-compatible device. To explore your gallery or a single 3D model in AR you just go to the menu in the app, find your model, open it and click on the AR button. Put the smartphone into the AR glasses and explore! It is also possible to use it without glasses on a tablet.

There are three steps in the process leading to the final solution. The first step is to create the 3D objects within a virtual space on the computer, the second step is to transfer the objects into AR by using a smartphone and the third and final step is to watch and experience it in AR glasses, getting mixed alongside real-life environments. For this final step it is important to have access to an open field the size of a football court, since the working space in Ludenso Create is 15 x 15 meters. Using augmented reality (AR) with Ludenso Create has two modes, one for teachers and one for students. Teachers can get an overview of what the students are creating by setting up a virtual classroom, named as a gallery in the software. The teacher can set up different classrooms and invite students into the classroom chosen by the teacher. This is useful for the students to work together in the same space. Each student can then develop and create their own objects, but at the same time they will be able to view in real-time what the fellow students are creating. This is especially useful to drive meaningful classroom discussions and to let students share and communicate their ideas. After they have finalized the whole space, they can experience each other's objects by using AR glasses. The digital objects and space will then mix with the surroundings in the real world. In that way the students will clearly be able to separate digital content from real life. The 3D modeling process will add new digital solutions and objects to visualize how a sustainable city could look like. The students can then experience the city in augmented reality.  Through creative processes and AR-experiences students can gain access to dimensions that are not otherwise physically accessible, for instance historical events, but also invent new solutions for a more sustainable future. Immersive technology such as AR enables conversations about dimensions, perspective and aesthetic choices in the preparation of prototypes. By setting up a virtual classroom students can discuss new technological inventions and solutions, they can create them in a 3D environment together will fellow students and they can experience how this protypes become visible when it is mixed with real life environments.

The activity can be developed further by giving the students more specific areas within sustainability. Some students might look specifically into new energy solutions while others investigate different pollution sources. The topic and assignment could also be set up as designing a specific solution or green technology that could solve an environmental problem, instead of framing it as a sustainability challenge. It is also worth mentioning that working with immersive technologies such as AR can pedagogically give students time to optimize their models and 3D objects by continuously developing their work within an immersive learning cycle. In this cycle the students optimize their objects by testing and viewing them in the AR glasses, and then developing it further.

To simplify the learning process, it is possible to use a tablet and the AR function instead of AR glasses. Pedagogically special need learners could design 3D objects that they can relate to or imitate from a picture.

An alternative activity using augmented reality could be to create specific buildings and design these buildings according to several given criteria. This activity can bring the students into a mode where they can investigate details or create different prototypes of the same building.

This STEAM learning activity workshop is addressed to primary school teachers that could be curious on how to use augmented reality (AR) as a pedagogical tool in the classroom. This activity introduces Ludenso Create as a helpful website and free tool to use. The activity is designed as a sustainability challenge to motivate students to take action for a better future for us all! The workshop could be designed in five phases: 1. Introducing the Sustainability challenge as an assignment. In this part the teacher collects all ideas from students by discussing and defining the topic (15-20 minutes). 2. Discussing and defining augmented reality (AR) as an immersive technology. Presenting Ludenso Create and downloading the app on smartphones or tablets, exploring the software together. The teacher could use a smart board to demonstrate the software. The teacher then hands out invitations to the virtual classrooms with a given code to pre-arranged student groups (15-20 minutes). 3. The students start the Sustainability challenge by designing 3D objects in Ludenso Create (30-45 minutes). 4. The students transfer their digital objects into the smartphone. Then they experience these objects using AR glasses and take the glasses into real life environments nearby (15-20 minutes). The students can continue to optimize the objects on the computer afterwards. 5.  When all the students have finished designing the teacher will show all the virtual solutions on a screen and the students share their thoughts on the process and the designed solutions (10-20 minutes).tovat tekemistään ratkaisuista ja prosessin herättämistä ajatuksista. (10–20 minuuttia)

• Brigham (2017). Reality Check: Basics of Augmented, Virtual and Mixed Reality. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316574920_Reality_Check_Basics_of_Augmented_Virtual_and_Mixed_Reality
• Maas & Hughes (2020). Virtual, augmented and mixed reality in K-12 ecucation: a review of the literature. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339916216_Virtual_augmented_and_mixed_reality_in_K-12_education_a_review_of_the_literature

• Scarbocci & Njå (2021). Fremtidsrettet og pedagogisk bruk av AR-teknologi i grunnskolen. https://ebooks.uis.no/index.php/USPS/catalog/book/73