Suitcase | Augmented Reality Supported Learning

Nowadays Science Centers offer a fascinating bouquet of exhibits to their visitors. They provide hands on learning experiences, delivering natural ways of active playful learning. Therefore, special exhibits are built, which usually demand extraordinary venues with proper spaces and elaborate maintenance. The exhibits are often fairly complex and due to their prototypical character relatively expensive. Augmented Reality can add a whole new set of flexibility and possibilities to such installations.

Taking those possibilities to extreme, exhibits can be created for take away to deliver Science Center experiences at hand. The first prototype was a miniaturization of an airfoil exhibit. A small model of a wing was augmented through a virtual air stream and arrows indicating forces. First tests and presentations lead to very positive feedback and indicated high potential for such a system. The idea arose to develop a suitcase holding a whole set of miniature AR-learning exhibits – a true „Science Center To Go“. The suitcase should be designed to mainly support pupils at school and meet the school curriculum.

Meanwhile multiple suitcases have been conceptualized, designed, and created. They are currently traveling all over Europe and being evaluated at schools in various countries, such as Finland, Greece, Romania, Spain, Sweden, or the UK. The exhibits are presented and discussed at training session with teachers. The suitcase is also evaluated with teachers using the suitcase in the real learning environment of the classroom. The target group ranges from fourth to twelfth graders. Although the Science Center To Go suitcase is primarily designed to meet the school curriculum, it is also meant to be used at home at own leisure. The exhibits and software may be used with a normal personal computer; no special hardware is required to run the system.

The suitcase is being developed iteratively. Based on initial feedback and first evaluations, we already developed and implemented the second and third version of the suitcase. Hereby we are working closely together with our pedagogical project partners.