DISCOVER-ing beyond openSim; immersive learning for carers of the elderly in the VR/AR era.

Abstract

Elderly carer training either formal or informal, imposes a long term healthcare and economical cost. Age, work patterns and overall demographic realities make ordinary approaches of teaching cumbersome and at times, even counterproductive. Scenario based learning has already been proven a reliable modality for self-directed education both in formal and informal context. Within this context, virtual environments have also been established as immersive experiential platforms for delivering such educational scenarios to learners. Additionally, with the advent of emerging technologies like Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) immersion and overlap between the real and the digital become ever increasing. This work describes the evolution of design and implementation innovations that originated in the EU funded DISCOVER project. Specifically, after a brief overview of design guidelines and previous implementation endeavors in virtual environments, the transition of this kind of educational content into the realm of mixed reality is described. Then, an evaluation strategy for such an approach is explored. Finally, the place of such a work in the roadmap of an educational living lab design and implementation is discussed.