VIRTUAL AND AUGMENTED TECHNOLOGIES

William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 1611

The terms immersion and presence are often used interchangeably, despite representing different experiences. Immersion refers to the sensory fidelity of a VR system, while presence is the psychological response of the participant. This is why learning is so powerful in VR: immersive technology commands both the mind and body and enables students to wonder and interact with abstract concepts and foreign environments in 3-dimension. The plank test, a common VR prank, illustrates the difference between immersion and presence by requiring the participant to cross a narrow plank at a terrifying height.

As a simulator designer, I was reminded of the difference between immersion and presence during a VR prank at Melbourne’s Eureka Tower just 12 months ago. Despite my expertise, I broke out in a sweat, clung to the plank with both hands, and experienced a racing heart rate and vertigo. Even though I knew I was less than

10cm from the floor, the visceral sensory experience of immersion and the very real psychological fear of danger hijacked my brain. It is this complete absorption that makes education and training remarkable, transformative, and memorable.

Many people associate VR and AR exclusively with the computer gaming industry, but the technology’s applications are much broader. Initially, VR and AR were primarily used to simulate dangerous and expensive environments in fields such as aeronautics, defence, and mining. However, advancements in technology have made it cheaper, portable, adaptable, and accessible to all industries. This has led to a transformation in education and training, bringing immersive experiences to the classroom.

For instance, Resourceful Humans, a Berlin-based company, collaborated with David Marquet, a former US Navy Captain and author of ‘Turn the Ship Around!’, to develop a multiplayer

VR experience that challenges teams to complete missions on a military submarine. Participants assume different roles, promoting agile change leadership and community building. The experience allows anyone to step into uniform, take control of a US Naval Submarine and develop skills and character.

In the previous edition of Digital Parenting, Emily Wakeling from the Rockhampton Museum of Art highlighted new digital art and 360 video recordings of museum exhibitions that can be accessed from anywhere and at any time. Many museums now offer remarkable in-house immersive experiences, such as Paris’s The National Museum of Natural History, where visitors wear VR headsets to interact with over 450 iconic species, tracing their evolution back 3.5 billion years. Another fascinating application of immersive technology in art is Professor Andrew Yip’s, from the University of New South Wales, extensive project ‘Henry VR’. The project involved restoring a Tudor portrait of Henry VIII and reconstruction of 16th Century London artists’ workshops, allowing participants to experiment with raw materials and pigments used to create the original painting and wonder at the sights and sounds of London over 500 years ago. This project is an excellent demonstration of how VR can be used to interpret, present, and preserve works of art and cultural value.

Also, in the previous edition of Digital Parenting, Professor Aaron Coutts of the University of Technology Sydney, highlighted the benefits of innovative technology for athlete performance development. A remarkable case study illustrating this is the 2014 story of Derek Belch, a Master’s student at Stanford who applied VR to the Cardinal Football team’s training. Head Coach David Shaw immediately noticed improved decision-making and

A New Career

A curiosity for AI ethics

Peta Estens (RGS 1997) is an internationally award-winning researcher, digital designer, and technology training specialist. Peta is a recipient of the prestigious Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering Elevate Scholarship, and a Ph.D. student at Deakin University. In 2021 Peta graduated with a Master of Visualisation, Simulation, and Immersive Design from UNSW with the Dean’s Prize for Academic Excellence. This research catalysed her strong interest in ethics, regulation, and governance specific to Virtual Reality and faster reactions in the team’s first game, which led to a dramatic improvement in their success rate, from a poor 50% to an impressive 100%, when entering the red zone. Astonishing results. It is no surprise Coach Shaw told the young Master’s student Belch “If I were you, I’d get out of here, start a company, make it happen. VR is the future of how athletes will train and prepare, and what you have is really good.” This year, Belch’s company STRIVR was listed by Forbes as amongst America’s best start-up’s. While the potential of VR and AR is often hyped, it’s important to understand the risks associated with immersive technologies. Indeed, there are new risks we must understand if we are to navigate and thrive in this brave new world, that has such people in it! I recall the words from Brian Hay, the Cultural Cyber Security Executive Director, from the previous edition of Digital Parenting, “how can you expect to manage the risk when you don’t first understand it?” Precise monitoring of a VR or AR participant’s sensory experience is required to avoid simulator sickness, but this monitoring raises concerns about violations to privacy and the collection and misuse of private and sensitive data. VR and AR monitors the retina, head tilt, rotation, teleportation, and response to sounds and stimulus. This intimate tracking and this tracing facilitates strong inferences about an individual’s personality. Biometric psychography can be used for predictive behavioural analytics, including targeted advertising. As we navigate this brave new world, it’s crucial to understand how such practices violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including the right to privacy, and take measures to manage the risks effectively.

In closing, the previous edition of Digital Parenting, Ben Scott, class of 2020 shared an inspiring and optimistic reflection. His vision is to use art to connect our digital and physical lives in a meaningful way and broaden our perspectives. Immersive technology has the potential to help achieve Ben’s vision, but it is ultimately our collective responsibility to be digitally literate and in control of our data to ensure our experiences are used ethically and responsibly.

Augmented Reality technologies, including the Metaverse. Peta recently graduated with a Certificate of Cyber Law at Deakin University with more questions than answers. Her Ph.D. research explores the limitations of existing legislation, regulation, and policies in protecting Human Rights. Peta’s research considers how immersive technologies rely on tracking and tracing the participant’s sensory system to be operational, exposing XR participants to the risk of biometric data harvesting. With over 20 years’ experience as a Secondary

English teacher, Peta is an advocate for introducing ‘data literacy’ as a Primary and Secondary School cross-curriculum priority. As cybersecurity is amongst Australia’s greatest threat, we need to empower the next generation to understand how data impacts the construction of identity, affects a sense of belonging to community, and determines one’s participation in wider society.