Kids step into the virtual world
The next leap in computer technology may make sitting around playing onscreen games a thing of the past. UniSA's School of Computer and Information Science (CIS) gave SA kids a taste of things to come at this years’ Super Science Sunday held at the Investigator Science Centre recently.
The work being done in the school on wearable computers and virtual reality was on display with kids and some curious parents taking the opportunity to step into the virtual world.
A version of Quake, reprogrammed for a virtual format, was certainly a hit on the day, but it is not only the fun of the new technology that counts – it is being used in a range of innovative new ways and contexts that are much more than child's play.
A recent trial of the technology with children undergoing extremely painful physiotherapy found that if they used virtual reality games during therapy, their experience of pain was reduced. The joint trial of Medical Quake was undertaken with UniSA's School of Health Sciences, Physiotherapy.
The potential of augmented reality technology is to make interaction with computers a much more active, educational and developmental experience. And with leading researchers such as recently awarded PhD Dr Wayne Piekarski and a recent grant from the Virtual Reality Centre to extend its E-world Lab, CIS is hoping to further extend its capability and its research frontiers.