Abstract: Augmented Reality (AR) supplies an entirely new medium to develop and deliver educational content. The variability of the virtual information that can be interacted with inside the physical world provides a unique opportunity for learning in situ and enables acquiring knowledge through a hands-on, “minds-on” approach. Currently, creating AR content (e.g., animations, annotations, 3D models) for a class is difficult and cumbersome for educators without prior experience. However, in a collaborative classroom, class instructors and students can co-create content and work together to solve project-oriented lessons, and engage in many interactions. In this talk, I will provide an overview of augmented reality applications, benefits, and limitations. Then, I will present several AR systems that explore different use cases and interaction techniques; and provide an understanding of how the technology is used and appropriated. The focus is on supporting early-to-middle-stage AR prototyping to allow creators to lower the barrier to entry to AR development. In these projects, I will also explore the capabilities of cloud-based architectures to research systems involving multiple participants, Internet-of-Things (IoT) components, and robots. Finally, I will conclude my talk with future directions for AR research, future collaborations venues, and the convergence of augmented reality and other fields of research.

Short Bio: Ana Villanueva received her PhD in the Convergence Design Lab at Purdue University under the supervision of Professor Karthik Ramani. Her research encompasses human-computer interaction (HCI), mechanical engineering, and education. Her focus is on designing interactive systems that are conducive to collaborative experiences in learning and training applications. Augmented reality (AR), which superimposes virtual information on the physical world, can be a great tool to provide users with instructional content. Her work has embedded AR technologies into interactive systems to deliver content in situ, provide real-time aid from instructors, and facilitate interactions between instructors and students. Her research spans the theory, design, and implementation of technologies aimed at synchronous and asynchronous collaboration in educational and industrial applications. Her work has been published in journals and the prestigious Computer-Human Interaction (CHI) conference, which is the #1 ranked conference in the field.