Admission requirements:
This course is an (extracurricular) Honours Class: an elective course within the Honours College programme. Third year students who don’t participate in the Honours College, have the opportunity to apply for a Bachelor Honours Class. Students will be selected based on i.a. their motivation and average grade.
Key words:
Skills: Research, academic writing, coding, design thinking, 3D modelling
Topics: Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, human-computer interaction, human factors, philosophy of mind, media philosophy, artificial intelligence.
Disciplines: Computer science, philosophy, psychology, media studies.
Description:
With the rise of Augmented and Virtual Reality our relation with digital technology is becoming more and more intimate. In this process, the borders between our bodies and brains and the tools we use become more and more blurred. This raises interesting philosophical questions on what it means to be smart and how Augmented Reality could change our society and our very experience of reality.
But it also brings forward more applied questions on the demands of the workforce of tomorrow.
Although precise predictions vary, sometime in the next decades we'll have access to Augmented Reality glasses that we could potentially wear all day. This technology is expected to make 3D computer interfaces mainstream and a major way of interacting with the digital world.
It's hard to underestimate the effects this development will have on our society. In this course we'll focus on how AR will allow us to solve problems and learn in whole new ways:
Engineers can get on-the-job support from experts on the other side of the world;
AR glasses could instantly translate texts in other languages, or caption conversations;
medical staff can be presented the right medical information needed to make a decision;
In this course you will be challenged to think how AR and VR technology could change how people solve all sorts of problems in collaboration with computers.. You will learn the skills needed to translate these ideas into future scenarios and Virtual and Augmented Reality prototypes.
For your final project you will work together with an organization and apply the knowledge you’ve gained for a real-world challenge.
Course objectives:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will:
have a basic understanding of the technology of Virtual and Augmented Reality;
have an overview of (possible) applications of Virtual and Augmented Reality;
have gained basic coding and digital design skills to build 3D prototypes;
be able to work with the methods of design thinking;
have analyzed the possible effects of VR & AR on the ways humans solve problems;
have identified ways in which these new computer interfaces will affect our culture;
have combined the skills and knowledge above to create a valuable final project for a real organization.
Programme and timetable:
Thursdays 19:00 – 21:30 hrs
Session 1: • 10 Oct - History and state of the art in Virtual & Augmented Reality technology
Session 2: • 17 Oct - Technology of Augmented Reality - different forms and challenges
Session 3: • 24 Oct - Skills: creating VR & AR prototypes (1)
Session 4: • 31 Oct - Matching event - 15:00 - 19:30
Session 5: • 7 Nov - VR & AR for education and training
Session 6: • 5 Dec - User experience in VR & AR
Session 7: • 12 Dec - Enhancing human productivity - Will Augmented Reality make us smarter?
Session 8: • 19 Dec - Skills: creating VR & AR prototypes (2)
Session 9: • 9 Jan - Project work
Session 10: • 16 Jan – Presentations
The programme includes an excursion to the Brave New World Conference on 4/5 November 2019: https://www.bravenewworld.nl/
Separate group meetings will be planned to assist you in your final project.
Location:
PLNT, Langegracht 70, Leiden. Room ACT.
Reading list:
For this course we’ll read parts from:
Andy Clark – Natural-born Cyborgs
Donald Norman – The Design of Everyday Things
Thomas W. Malone – Superminds
Doug Engelbart – Augmenting Human Intelligence
Jeremy Bailenson – Experience on Demand
Other possible literature will be announced in class or via Blackboard.
Course load and teaching method:
This course is worth 5 EC, which means the total course load equals 140 hours.
Lectures: 10 lectures of 2,5 hours = 25 (attendance is mandatory)
Event: 1 event of 4 hours (attendance is mandatory)
Excursion: 2 excursions to organization of 1.5 hours = 3 hours (attendance is mandatory)
Literature reading: 18 hours
Practical work: 10 hours
Essay assignment: 40 hours
Final project: 40 hours
Assessment methods:
The assessment methods will look as follows (The assessment methods will be further explained in the first session of the Class):
40% Essay assignment (individually, 2000 – 3000 words)
60% Final project (groups)
Students can only pass this course after successful completion of all partial exams.
Blackboard:
Blackboard will be used in this course. Students can register for the Blackboard page one week prior to the start of the course.
Registration process:
Enrolling in this course is possible from Monday the 19th of August up to and including Thursday the 5th of September until 23:59 hrs through the Honours Academy. The registration link will be posted on the student website of the Honours Academy.
Please note: students are not required to register through uSis for the Bachelor Honours Classes. Your registration will be done centrally after successful completion of the Bachelor Honours Class.
Contact:
Robin de Lange: mail@robindelange.com