Development of an Educational AR Tool for Visualization of Spatial Figures and Volume Calculation for Vocational Education

Abstract

This paper describes the development of a prototype for an AR application, which supports volume calculation and spatial understanding for mathematics in vocational educations in Denmark. Teaching of spatial shapes and their properties are done mainly in a two-dimensional space on paper. To mitigate the inherent contradiction of learning about 3D-figures on paper, we set forth to develop an application, which focus on visualizing 3D-objects with the use of handheld AR. The application is developed with the iterative design process where the development of low- and high-fidelity prototypes have been essential for improving and testing the product. From testing it was noted that there was expressed excitement for the visualization of the 3D-objects through AR and how real they seemed. Especially the visualizations of the figures size and the size compared to its volume. From test results the AR visualization of 3D-objects and interaction with them helped test subjects to better understand the spatiality of the shown object. With the application they were able to “see the unseen” [6], which helped their understanding of spatial objects. We propose the use of AR technology to be further utilized as a natural tool in relevant subjects, where a visualization can promote or enhance a better understanding of a topic. On the top of this, AR contributes to the learning experience, which will vast and remain with the users.