Our setup at the TEL Demos

Shakespeare VR at CMU’s TEL Demos

Thomas Serban von Davier
Nov 7 · 3 min read

On November 1st, 2019 the Shakespeare VR project was presented at the 2019 Teaching and Learning Summit held at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). The final moments of the Summit are the Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) demonstrations and poster session where researchers and instructors gather to display various methods of elevating basic learning with the inclusion of technology.

“Demonstrations feature how CMU faculty, graduate students, and staff use instructional technology home-grown at CMU or developed elsewhere. Demos may include students showcasing their work or experiences using the technologies.”

This quote from the Teaching and Learning Summit highlighted the exact purpose Shakespeare VR wanted to achieve. First, we wanted to display our instructional technology that has been developed here at CMU with our various partners. Second, we wanted to not only display the technology but actually provide a firsthand showcase to the Summit attendees. Having the opportunity to present the technology to other educators with a hands on experience is incredibly important for us. It allows us to user test the VR recordings with the very same people that will be using it for their lesson plans. Additionally, it allows even more people the chance to try our tour of the Blackfriars Playhouse with a full VR headset.

Our experience that the Teaching and Learning Summit was fantastic. We had a consistent stream of interested parties that wanted to try the headsets. One of our greatest challenges continues to be the speed with which we can cycle through users in the headsets. So far we have found that the easiest way to display the videos is by simply prepping and resetting the video by the instructor or TA before handing it off to the students to view the videos. Interestingly, we were able to identify exactly when the video started vs. when it was not starting properly. For participants that got the video to work, there was a moment of realization that dawned across their faces and occasionally they would exclaim in surprise. We called this the “Wow Factor” of the Shakespeare VR technology. Using this “Wow Factor” any instructor can see exactly when the technology is working properly and fully captures the attention of the user.

Shakespeare VR continues to gain traction as it is demonstrated at the Technology-Enhanced Learning demos at the 2019 Teaching and Learning Summit.

Shakespeare VR

Shakespeare VR is a project coming out of Carnegie Mellon University directed by Shakespeare scholar, Professor Stephen Wittek. The project works to bring free access to streaming and downloads for all our virtual reality media, lesson plans, and much more!

Thomas Serban von Davier

Written by

Graduate Student at Carnegie Mellon University studying Human Computer Interaction (HCI).

Shakespeare VR

Shakespeare VR is a project coming out of Carnegie Mellon University directed by Shakespeare scholar, Professor Stephen Wittek. The project works to bring free access to streaming and downloads for all our virtual reality media, lesson plans, and much more!

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade