Discover Geology

Published on (Tuesday, November 14, 2017) by Stephen Wheeler.

An augmented reality field trip

Presented at ALT-C 2014

Note: The Junaio software is no longer available.

Introduction

Try it for yourself

You can download Junaio if you want to access the field trip yourself later, but remember to turn the sound off if you’re not in an appropriate environment.

Outline

In this presentation I’ll be talking about:

Premise of the project: how it all started;
Why augmented reality: why we decided to pursue an augmented reality solution;
Technical challenges: these were significant;
Problems overcome: some clear thinking;
What we learned: moving forward

Premise

As these things are meant to do, this project started with an educational need: Dr. Steve Boult from the School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences was redesigning his MSc in Environmental Sciences to be delivered as a part-time distance learning course. A key aspect of this course was the field-trip to the Hope Valley in Derbyshire. The problem was, how to enable part-time distance learning students to do the field-trip themselves, i.e. without Steve personally guiding them around the Valley.

Requirements

We wanted to give students something a little more than a paper handbook to read as they hiked around the Hope Valley, but also something at little or no cost that they would have ready access to.

Steve wanted something that would give students a full commentary about the geology and natural history of the area, that gave directions, identified key features in the landscape and provided the additional scientific information that would be required by MSc students.

It also became apparent at this stage that the solution might also be of interest to the general public.

Solution

We did a little research and decided that, with smartphones and tablets being very common if not ubiquitous, augmented reality was the technology that best fitted the bill.

A quick definition of augmented reality: a real world view augmented by sound, video, graphics, text and other multimedia.

Solution

Partners

For this project we partnered with Mimas, part of JISC’s Digital Resources Division, who had some augmented reality experience with their SCARLET project with Manchester’s Rylands Library, and the Manchester Museum who have a large Geology department and extensive experience of public engagement.

We were fortunate to receive funding from our alumni through the “Your Manchester” fund.

What we did - content

First of all we needed to generate content. So, a team of eLearning Technologists, together with Steve Boult, got in a car and went to the Hope Valley to specify points of interest, record their GPS coordinates, record Steve’s commentary “in the field”, take pictures and make notes on directions.

We also made use of Google Earth coupled with overlays generated by the British Geological Survey (which are free to use) to generate diagrams of the geology at each point of interest.

We settled on a standard format for each point of interest and produced a detailed storyboard for the whole channel:

Photograph of the point of interest
Commentary from Steve Boult
Beneath Your Feet (Google Earth image of the geology)
Audio description of directions to the next point of interest
Additional feature, such as Fossil Finder, as needed

What we did - technology

We used a service called Junaio because its augmented reality browser is available to download and use for free on most platforms, i.e. Android smartphones and tablets and Apple iPhone and iPads, and it’s free to develop an augmented reality channel. The only technology we had to provide was a PHP enabled web server to host the content, and input the server details to the Junaio developer website.

Junaio uses something called AREL, a JavaScript augmented reality library, so all it takes to build a channel is a basic understanding of HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

What we did - technology

Configuration file extract

To create a point of interest, you add the GPS coordinates to a configuration file and associate the content - the audio, images and text - to that point of interest. When you have several points of interest you have a channel. Upload your content and the configuration file to your server and you’re ready to go.

What we did

On the Junaio developer website a unique QR code is generated for your channel, so to access your channel, open the Junaio browser on your mobile device and scan the QR code. As long as you have an internet connection the channel will load onto your device. It is also listed in the browser’s list of channels.

Technical issues

Connectivity

Junaio relies on devices having GPS enabled and maintaining an internet connection. We were heading off into the Peak District, so the viability of this was an issue for us.

However, during testing, receiving an internet connection on our mobile devices was not too much of a problem. The signal was a bit flaky on the floor of the Valley, where the trip started, but once we started hiking out of the town and climbing the hills, connectivity proved to be very good and GPS was accurate to within two metres. On the launch field trip we deployed several 3G enabled iPads as mobile wireless hotspots so, if users had problems connecting to their 3G network they could connect to the iPads rather than to their normal carriers.

As we were relying on at best a 3G mobile connection, we had to be sensible about the content we populated the channel with. We restricted ourselves to MP3 audio files for the commentary and directions, JPEG images to illustrate the channel, and HTML files for text. We decided against video, firstly as a design consideration: we wanted people to be looking at the environment while walking, not watching a video screen. Secondly, we thought it would be too much of a heavy load on users’ data plan.
Battery life

Running GPS, a 3G connection, the Junaio browser (which makes use of the device camera) and audio files is going to take a heavy toll on device battery life. In testing this proved to be the case, and it was a consideration when deciding what content to include in the channel, and in making decisions on how long we wanted the field trip to last. The length of the field trip was approximately three hours, and we strongly advised users to make sure they had a fully charged device.
Screen glare

On the day of the launch field trip is was a beautiful sunny day and the biggest complaint we had from users was the screen glare from mobile devices making it very hard to read the screen. Unfortunately, it’s not something we can remedy ourselves.

Being too clever

You have in Junaio the capacity to create custom points of interest, that is, create something other than the default pop-up information panels when you activate a point of interest. We rose to the challenge and produced some very sophisticated pop-up points of interest with some quite advanced JavaScript programming. Of course they failed dismally when we tested them in the field.

We were trying to run before we could walk, pushing the technology to its limit and trying to make this free service do things it was never meant to do.

We had to take a step back and make a decision whether to persevere with the direction we were going or revert to a vanilla presentation of the channel. We reverted to a vanilla presentation. The more we persevered with the custom points of interest the more problems were arising. We were working more on overcoming technical problems than concentrating on delivering the content in an effective way.

That changed, and from then on progress was rapid. This shows the benefit of extensive testing. We were confident about what would work when we launched and able to remove or rework anything we weren’t so sure about.

Launch

On August 13th, 2013 the launch field trip took place.

Through its “Friends” programme, public engagement expertise and some advertising, The Manchester Museum organised a coach full of about thirty people to take part in our first augmented reality field trip.

It was a very successful day. I think everybody involved had a fantastic day and it solicited some very complimentary blog posts.

Conclusion

Engage

What we produced was a self-contained learning resource that told the geological story of the Hope Valley that users related to and engaged with. The technology enabled us to concentrate on creating a narrative to deliver the content that users found very appealing.
Enable

The technology enabled us to deliver independent situated learning. Users could do the field trip at a time that was convenient for them, see the geology for themselves and have the benefit of Steve’s expertise to guide them.

The technology also enabled the field trip to be conducted using a blended approach: Steve leading a group of students on the field trip and using the augmented reality channel as the primary source of delivery. This allowed Steve to discuss more involved questions with students after they had engaged with the augmented reality channel.
Disrupt

The most telling comment of our launch field trip came from Steve himself: He said he felt a bit redundant. His role on the field trip had changed. He was no longer the “tour guide” but rather the expert on-hand to answer questions users might have - and more involved questions at that.

The augmented reality channel, with its variety of resources, had delivered the content more efficiently and directly than Steve had when he had previously conducted the field trip, leaving him to define a new role for himself. More generally, it has made him re-think his entire approach to teaching.

Augmented reality is established technology with a robust infrastructure supporting it. We have completed subsequent projects, such as a Civil Engineering Tour of Manchester, and as an eLearning team, augmented reality is now part of our normal provision of services to academic staff.

Try it yourself