Where to Start?
Each summer Moment creates a research project about an exciting topic we see on the horizon. In the past, intern teams have researched self-driving cars, way-finding with Google Glass, consumer-facing media consumption, symptom and medication management for cancer patients, and more.
For the Moment 2016 summer project our group of interns — in collaboration with full-time Moment designers, leaders, and outside experts — will explore the intersection of a mixed reality experience and children’s education. We’ll be thinking about how students could interact with virtual objects and environments in the real world.
There was a lot of playful secrecy leading up to the announcement of the summer project theme at Moment. When we interviewed for the summer internship program, none of us were given details and Moment designers would smirk knowingly when we begged for clues.
When our project mentors finally revealed the project, our immediate reaction was, “Oh, cool!” Thoughts of holograms and imaginary worlds came to mind. We found out that we’d also be exploring possibilities for education in mixed reality using various kid-friendly maker tools for creating and inventing. Think Legos with built-in circuits and controllers.
After receiving the project brief, we spent a few days watching and sharing videos demonstrating virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR). The terms were new to the intern team and there was a lot of inspiring content to sift through. Once we got our bearings, it was time to make a plan and dive in.
Where to begin?
Because none of us are experts in the areas we need to cover, we decided that we’d need to come up with a detailed plan for how we’d meet our deadlines and be successful with the project. Before we could do that, we wanted to give some structure to our questions, so we broke our “unknowns” into three categories:
1. Let’s understand mixed reality.
We needed to clarify for ourselves what mixed reality is and the current devices and technologies out there. VR, MR, and AR are all points on a reality spectrum. The spectrum moves from total reality to augmented reality, to augmented virtual to total virtual.
The HTC Vive, where one’s whole vision is a virtual world is an example of augmented virtual. The term mixed reality is used to describe the situation where both the real world and digital elements are visible and interactive. Magic Leap—where one sees interactive digital elements over the real world—looks to be the best example, though it’s not out yet.
2. Let’s understand kid-centric maker tools.
At first glance we could see an excited online community of makers using kits from companies like littleBits for projects of all ranges and complexities. What kind of projects are best suited for learning toys like littleBits or Makey Makey? How are kids using these kits and what kind of subjects or learning best fits these types of learning toys?
We spent time comparing the different kits and ordered some to try out. After looking at the instruction manuals for kids and teachers, we noticed how they relate the elements of the kit to real word examples. For example, when introducing a control switch in the instructions, a picture of a light switch is shown for context.
3. Let’s understand S.T.E.A.M. education.
We made a list of experts we could seek out who would have helpful information for us as it pertains to our project. Through the connections of our fellow Momenteers, we were able to line up interviews with a S.T.E.A.M. (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) educator at a progressive Manhattan elementary school; the co-director of a youth maker education program called the Beam Center; and a former elementary school teacher that now develops education technology. We also interviewed parents and read about tech and education projects that used VR.
Now that we have some definition around the project ahead, we can get down to researching and sorting out our findings. We plan to use the research models, frameworks, and prototyping we practiced in school…plus a whole lot of Post-it notes.
Andrea Everman, Sarah Mitrano, Ian Morrow, and Daniel Park are interns at Moment in New York. Sarah is a recent graduate of Washington University with a BFA in communication design; Daniel is a junior at Parsons pursuing a BBA in strategic design and management; and Ian and Andrea are pursuing MDes degrees at the IIT Institute of Design. They’re all currently exploring the intersection of mixed reality and children’s education. You can follow the team’s progress this summer on Momentary Exploration.
UPDATE: The Moment summer 2016 intern project is live here.
