Part 2: https://myind.net/Home/viewArticle/a-comprehensive-framework-to-optimally-harness-arvr-technology-in-india-part-2

Use of AR/VR Technology in Education Sector

Immersive experience using AR/VR technology has been deployed in multiple avenues in the education sector. For instance, the University of Westminster employed virtual reality to create a "virtual space for penal law students" where students would look for incriminating evidence to build a murder case. Similar to this, the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria in Portugal uses augmented reality to make math and chemistry classes more enjoyable and useful. In order to study history and social science topics, students use a programme similar to "Google Expeditions" to take virtual tours of tornadoes, volcanoes, and other natural phenomena. It is being said that

"By 2025, two billion of the global population is going to be made up by the youngest generation: Generation Alpha, also known as iGeneration."

In the backdrop of such development, where countries are exploring ways to incorporate the latest AR/VR technologies in their national education curriculum, India's New Education Policy (NEP) also emphasizes the need for immersive, visual and experiential learning in the education system. Following this, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), in collaboration with the tech giant Meta, aims to train 10 lakh teachers and more than one crore students in AR/VR in the next three years. It is indeed a requisite step that could improve the quality of learning among the students in India. However, there are several areas of ambiguity and some policy difficulties that might hinder the smooth execution of the aforementioned task.

Ensuring Inclusion and Equity in Education

Inclusion and Equity should be the core values while designing AR/VR policies in education. In developing countries like India, providing digital education to all students is a real challenge. Amid covid-19, there is a massive shift in the nature of classes being held from offline to online mode, and one can witness the major digital divide being created bluntly in many states. A recent survey done by NCERT shows that at least 27% of students don't have access to smartphones or laptops for online classes. Children coming from rural backgrounds or economically weak sections don't have enough wherewithal to buy a smartphone, or if one has it, they can't buy mobile data every month. There are even cases where students borrow smartphones from neighbours or relatives to take online classes. Thus, infusing AR/VR technology in classrooms comes with the risk of widening the crack of the digital divide. The main obstacles to introducing new technologies are the lack of electricity, internet reliability, high data and VR equipment costs which every student can't afford, lack of basic infrastructure and culturally appropriate content.

Hence to overcome these obstacles, numerous parallel policies must be put in place. First, the unison of state and national governments could ally to build infrastructure to provide good internet facilities in all poor and underdeveloped areas of the country. An alliance with international organisations can also help build such infrastructure like in the United Nations Broadband Commission. Second, the equipment needed for AR/VR technology should be provided to all students to use within school premises. Government can also collaborate with some private companies to build VR equipment and subsidize the rate of this equipment for students from socio-economically disadvantaged families to buy for home usage. Third, considering the linguistic diversity of India, the content of digital education should be created in regional languages so that students don't get detached from education and learning.

These are the measures that should be taken into account while implementing the policies concerning digital education in India. It is necessary to mitigate the effects of the digital divide, which is escalating even more during the spread of COVID-19. Student ability and skills can only be sharpened and improved if they are availing of the appropriate conditions to use the benefit of digital education, or this policy will become the luxury of the elite and the wealthy only.

The Teacher-Parent-Student Triad: Challenges of AR/VR Technology

The inclusion of the latest technology in education can act as a double-edged sword. There are various benefits of this technology along with a few drawbacks and loopholes. Recent research done by a few scholars on the inclusion of AR/VR technology in schools in other developing countries discovered various challenges and loopholes. With the increasing use of digital education, the trio of Teacher-Parent-students confronts several problems.

A. Cut off from the real world – The absence of authentic experience and interaction with an actual environment were the concerns raised by many science teachers. Many teachers were not convinced about teaching science using this technology as they argued there is a requirement to have an authentic experience to help students memorize. And the material used to teach students in VR are similar to cartoons. Perhaps students would like to see actual situations or they will start questioning its feasibility.

B. Addiction to Technology – Amid the escalating trend of Covid-19 Cases, the advent of AR/VR Technology is supposed to bridge the lacunae build-up during the pandemic. However, this technology could serve as a double-edged sword. The continuous usage of AR/VR technology could lead students to become highly addicted to it. Students might get more interested in getting involved in this technology while leaving their real social life aside.

C. Lack of Time – VR technology usage is also being constrained by the lack of time. Teachers are concerned that they wouldn't be able to finish the syllabus as using VR technology consumes a lot of time.

D. The dilemma of BYOD (bring your own device) policy restriction – This is a policy in some schools that says that students should bring their own device to participate in VR classes. However, the parents oppose this policy because they cannot afford to buy VR equipment for their children. Even some teachers opposed this policy by stating that schools or teachers cannot take responsibility to take care of students' devices and mobile phones.

E. Lack of parental support – It is also found that many parents predominantly don't support the idea of teaching students using the latest technology. According to them, students should be taught in accordance with traditional teaching ways.

All these problems concerning the use of AR/VR technology should be taken into consideration by the policymakers of India to deal with these problems before they happen. In order to ensure that students shouldn't get any health problems, digital education classes should be held at regular gaps in between classes. Additionally, the education ministry should devise the digital education curriculum while taking valuable feedback from teachers so that they will not face difficulties such as lack of time and continuous pressure to finish the syllabus. There is also a need to build public opinion, especially among parents, about the importance of digital education for their children.

The Financial Issue

A developing country like India could have to deal with various policy issues when it comes to backing such technology as digital education solutions in schools and probably colleges in near future. Following are some of the problems:

A. The Unavailability of AR/VR technology – It wouldn't be feasible for every school to provide the required infrastructure and facilities for AR/VR for their students. The cost to create AR/VR-friendly environment in schools is quite high. There is a need for government intervention to aid schools in making the required habitat. There is a need for further research on the expected cost of this new technology would require. The AR/VR technology must provide suitable materials according to the local syllabus and context, with meaningful explanations and assessments.

B. Need for Domestic Investment in Latest technologies for educating Students – In India, one can witness how minimal or almost no investment (despite few exceptions) has been made by private players in the field of Virtual Reality or Augmented Reality. These technology developments are on the cusp of ushering in a true revolution in human affairs. The control and dominance in the R&D of AR/VR and artificial intelligence are crucial for any country. There is an alarming need for India to invest in such technology not only to improve its education system but also to assert dominance on the global platforms in the future. The decision of CBSE to collaborate with Meta is a decision of strategic importance for India. But India needs more investment from domestic public and private players, which is minimal at present.

Video games in Education: Serious or Trivial

It is being showcased in movies like Ready Player One and Oblivion, that AR/VR technology can be used for real-time gaming. And it is today indeed a living reality. Many companies are providing games based on the said technology. There is a difference between 'Serious Games' and games designed just for fun. These Serious Games (SG), which are different from video games mainly intended for entertainment purposes, are designed mainly targeting educational purposes rather than entertainment. Educational technologies, such as serious games and mobile applications, improved learners' academic achievements and promoted their participation in learning activities.

Educational or serious games can act as effective tools to improve teaching in the sciences. There is a possibility that the usage of the aforementioned technology might get shifted from educating children to promoting high graphics video games just as a leisure activity. Hence, the use of gaming to promote learning among students can act as a double-edged sword: it can be a game used by students for serious academic purposes or for trivial purposes.

Role of Government in Promoting Digital Education in India

Amid the rising importance of Digital education in India, the central and state government must play a significant role in promoting AR/VR technology. In order to implement the aforementioned technology in India, there is a need for the allocation of funds in four major areas – ensuring training of teachers so that they can get acquainted with the capabilities and limitations of AR/VR technology, indigenisation of immersive technology production, the building of necessary environment/ infrastructure in schools for adoption of such technology and research on how to effectively integrate AR/VR technology in the education.

PR17. We must establish a training program agency under the aegis of the Ministry of Education and constituted in collaboration with state governments to train teachers about the capabilities and limitations of digital education technology, particularly immersive technologies.

PR18. We must work towards the indigenization of AR/VR educational technology production, keeping in mind how best to integrate it with existing curriculum and educational frameworks.

 

PR19. We must explore schemes like Government Strategic Investment Funds (GSIC), which makes equity investments in companies engaged in activities of particular interest to the government, with regular testing and prototyping of new editions of educational AR/VR technology, to minimise costs.

PR20. We must explore tax waivers and subsidies to companies working within India in the domain of digital educational immersive technology.

PR21. We must invest and innovate in the realm of augmented books, which have moving illustrations and dynamic elements of pedagogical instruction.

PR22. We must encourage the in-house development of Metaverse modules in different subject areas by teachers and local policy-makers.

PR23. We must encourage the possible integration of artificial intelligence with AR/VR education technology to facilitate an immersive technology version of adaptive learning (and possibly, differentiated curriculum) techniques.

PR24. We must encourage students to translate thought (Gedanken) experiments to formulations apt for AR/VR realisations, thereby giving them a critical understanding of different nuances of the problem at hand.

PR25. We must prioritise the learning of languages, such as Sanskrit, with the use of immersive technologies.

Use of AR/VR Technology in Healthcare

The stakes in the healthcare sector can't be any greater because it involves saving a person's existence. The utilization of advanced technologies is vital to the health care system's performance. Health care is highly receptive to the new technology due to public interest, engagement, and financing. Even at first glance, there appears to be a perfect connection between, and a trove of opportunities of, AR/VR and healthcare. These innovations provide remedial measures to the health care system's many problems, and as a result, they present a wide range of chances for their adoption in other fields, including general diagnostics and clinical training.

Every nation's system of healthcare faces a variety of difficulties. These issues stem from a variety of angles and are particularly noticeable on the ground level where it appears that demand is constantly outpacing supply. On the one hand, there are principally operational problems, such as when the patient is at a location that is challenging to access, say geographically or due to political disturbances. Then there's the question of equipment that is hard to get to and is frequently out-of-date and not even close to as efficacious as it should be. On the other hand, many local establishments consistently struggle with a shortage of staff members. The fact of the matter is that various local healthcare facilities frequently struggle to manage heavy workloads, let alone crisis situations. The list of challenges is endless. With the use of AR/VR, many of these problems can be alleviated.

So, how many AR/VR assist the public health system in overcoming these obstacles? Firstly, it will make a substantial number of tasks easier to complete. Then follows improved accessibility of the benefit programs, and ultimately, the use of virtual and augmented reality in healthcare has the potential to significantly enhance the efficacy of medical services as a whole. The one area where the use of AR/VR in the workplace benefits patients the most is the patient experience. Immersion and engagement are crucial for effective treatment, but they frequently receive the least amount of emphasis due to their comparatively minor impact on the overall outcome.

Applications for augmented reality and virtual reality in healthcare can extend the patient experience to subsidiary aspects as well. As you are aware, chronic patients frequently feel uncomfortable when they are partially left by themselves during treatments. Their experience can become a little bit more stimulating and less unpleasant thanks to AR/VR.

For instance, AR/VR can be utilized to improve interaction with family members. Additionally, in a sophisticated take on the "try before you buy" principle, VR physical therapy can be used to spend time in locations outside of the health centre. On the other side, augmented reality (AR) can make it easier for patient to monitor their physiological parameters and stay informed about how their treatment is going. The immersion element also provides access to novel therapeutic approaches.

For instance, a complex interactive virtual setting can be used to enhance sleeping patterns and reduce pain. Additionally, VR can be utilized to help amputees adjust to their condition and experience their amputated limbs. On the other hand, certain surroundings can be used to cure psychological disorders like addictive behaviour, phobias, and various kinds of anxiety. VR medical simulations of scenarios can aid in the development of more efficient treatment plans and a better understanding of the patterns of illnesses.

Visualizing data is the simplest approach for AR to seamlessly integrate into the healthcare system. An example would be patient data that can be displayed and offered with live statistics. One of the essential components that makes it possible for efficient therapy is relevant patient data. Even upon utilizing the most cutting-edge data analytics tools, clinicians may find the volume of obtained data to be inscrutable or incomprehensible.

Typically, everything is displayed on a large number of screens that surround the patient. AR can display the statistics right on the body of the patient, highlighting any problem areas and other pertinent data. Despite how convoluted it may appear everything can be accessed with smartphones and smart glasses. Mapping of the patient's body is a crucial component in integrating AR/VR into the investigation stage. When the issue is intricate or the physician can't physically conduct the checkup, a complete virtual reproduction of the patient's physique may be helpful. In each situation, the difficulty arises from the equipment arrangement and the precision of the data streams. It appears that it will take a while before this strategy takes off given that the entire process will require the coupling and coordination of various sensing devices.

A clinician can use AR to see through the patient's body layers and examine vasculature, organ systems, malignancies, and other structures without actually penetrating. All of this can improve diagnostic accuracy. That is always a positive development. One of the best instances of this is Microsoft's HoloLens. With its assistance, doctors can perform a variety of tests and simulations using real-time statistics and harvest more beneficial information for later studies.

Among the most promising applications of AR is in surgeries. There are numerous ways to accomplish it. With the aid of hologram monitors, for instance, AR can make it easier to see operating techniques that are needed in diverse circumstances. It can also serve as a reference board for additional data that pops up when needed, such as care coordination details, vitals, specific points about a disorder and its therapeutic interventions, etc.

In complex situations that call for more caution due to potential ramifications, it can serve as remote aid. With the use of virtual reality, surgeons can plan the procedure in advance and see potential results without having to confront them in actuality. Such "tryouts" can aid in improving the operation's accuracy and manageability. The problem of accessibility in severe conditions can also be resolved using VR. The remote-controlled robot that will conduct the real procedure while the surgeon completes the procedure offsite can be hooked to a VR environment. Although this method is improbable to totally supplant surgeons, it can be useful in certain circumstances.

AR/VR systems are being developed and deployed for tasks that aid in diagnosis as well as pre-surgical training and preparation, along with being useful for their possibility for usage in operation theatres. An AR/VR technology, for instance, is offered by the American company Immersive Touch that integrates with customary diagnostic imaging studies including CT and MRI examinations.

Before performing surgery on a patient, doctors can utilize the system to outline operating strategies in an immersive virtual environment, see patient-specific anatomical and pathological nuances in three dimensions, and rehearse on particular medical equipment or technique.

Curiously, the most common uses of AR/VR in healthcare so far have been in the fields of orthognathic and dental implantology surgical intervention. Utilizing either dynamical navigation or statistical guidance, virtual planning increased the precision of placing dental implants. Prediction planning and intra-operative navigation are the primary uses of virtual reality in orthognathic surgery. By simulating the scenario and enabling students to rehearse operations without actually touching live patients, virtual reality has also been utilized to improve instruction and training for dentistry and maxillofacial surgery. To increase hand dexterity and enhance clinical training, haptic feedback can be incorporated to give another degree of immersive reality.

Policy Challenges of AR/VR Technology in Healthcare

All of this creativity, though, comes with a problem. A challenge that results from the rising usage of AI in the medical area is how to transfer risk between the manufacturer and the user and who should be responsible in the event of a calamitous misdiagnosis or a surgical automaton that malfunctions. To address these issues, the regulatory system and the insurance sector will need to be updated, and policymakers are currently working on this. Similar issues are raised by the introduction of AR and VR in the healthcare industry. The generation, storage, and modification of the patient's image (or images of a portion of that patient's anatomy) may be required for immersive technology-based methods of instruction, diagnosing, and therapy.

Who will own the rights to that graphic representation and what waivers must the subject submit?

Patient records will necessarily be generated and preserved. Will it be kept in a safe place? Who will be able to use it?

What are the guidelines for a patient to provide the necessary informed consent for the production and preservation of data using such technology?

Who will be held responsible if the virtual aid tool glitches and causes more harm than good during surgery or if, as a result of a flaw in the system or abuse, the therapeutic VR environment worsens rather than improves the condition of, say, a schizophrenic patient?

These are all questions that need to be urgently addressed before the widespread deployment of AR/VR technology in healthcare.

In these situations, the provisions might not need to be reinvented as much to facilitate the new AI applications already referenced, but the risks discussed above will undoubtedly need to be mitigated through the implementation of technical checks and balances built into devices and systems, strict operational requirements, and well-drafted agreements and written consent to be signed by manufacturers, consumers, and patients - a captivating puzzle for a technology everyone once took as a medium to play games.

Policy Directions for AR/VR Technology in Healthcare

As novel alternatives for diagnosis and treatment are being developed and implemented, the AR/VR sector is integrating with the healthcare sector. These novel approaches are intriguing and have the potential to be game-changing not only because they are novel but also because, to the extent that they provide alternatives to medicating patients with prescription medications or operating on them, they may mitigate risk, increase efficiency, and shorten treatment times for patients, medical professionals, and primary caregivers. We must consider precise strategies for optimizing this integration without incurring unnecessary costs.

These are some of the specific policy suggestions and directions for this:

PR26. We must train all doctors and nurses in basic knowledge of immersive technology and virtual medical environments, recording their performance for analysis, benchmarking and correction.

PR27. We must integrate AR/VR in the internship/traineeship period for medical students so that they get a first-hand, albeit virtual, the experience of surgical and other medical interventions.

PR28. We must use virtual 3D mapping of the organs of a patient for pre-op diagnostic steps instead of the conventional method of opening the patient up for the same.

PR29. We must fight phobias and facilitate rehabilitative care for autism using virtual or augmented environments in controlled settings.

PR30. We must integrate AR/VR technology in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

PR31. We must use gaming technology for improved hand-eye coordination, cognitive capacity building as well as enhancing physical dexterity post-surgery or after a stroke.

PR32. We must integrate information-dissemination modules for the awareness of every patient undergoing surgery to let them know the planned surgical intervention in as much detail as possible.

PR33. We must integrate AR/VR technologies for training athletes and treating injuries in sports.

PR34. We must integrate AI/ML with AR/VR technology to give an adaptive environment that moderates stimulus and response to a user, particularly post-operative patients, based on their actions, capabilities and choices.

PR35. We must ensure the use of the safety parameters and guidelines created for the safety of the healthcare immersive technology applications.

Conclusion

Virtual and augmented reality will have a far-reaching impact on our society. Users will be able to, among other things, experience a variety of realities depending on unique preferences and needs. Additionally, it will alter how users participate and increase the capacity of enterprises to communicate with customers. These innovations provide countless potential, and they are extremely potent when used in conjunction with readily available mobile phones.

Since most people have access to social media, it has significantly hampered interpersonal connections. In order to improve the human experience and restore a sense of interpersonal closeness, virtual reality can aid in the creation of new social encounters. The potential of virtual reality to comprehend the world from the perspective of other distinct individuals who see it can also lead to social transformation.

In order to promote social change, Project Empathy VR seeks to encourage compassion by developing captivating VR experiences that allow users to see the world from another individual's point of view. In the future, augmented and virtual reality technologies will converge into two types- tethered systems and standalone devices.

Tethered systems will consist of a head-mounted device or wearable that is wired to a processing system. All systems, including the display and processing, will be housed in standalone units, which will also be wearable. Manufacturers are combining standalone and tethered equipment, which are the first indications of these trends. While some independent units are already on the market, their implementation is more challenging and complex.

Future AR/VR technology will offer individualized, easily accessible, and beautifully designed experiences. There will soon be a platform change when these factors take effect. Given the immense potential for the application of AR/VR technology in education, healthcare and other societal dimensions, we must establish policy frameworks to effectively harness the power of this novel technology and move towards a more sustainable future.

THE END

 

Image source: ISACA