Photorealistic 3D Models and Interactive Learning Content for a Machine Elements E-Course

Introduction

Internet and modern technologies have upscaled the communication and connectivity potentials of everyone, making possible and quite affordable to access and consume high quality content from almost anywhere across the globe. Given how comfortable, direct and rich in terms of content video is, most people favor and have fully embraced it as their primary knowledge and information format. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video has proved to be a much more powerful medium where images, pictures, photos and diagrams create dynamic knowledge contexts and convey information in a much more effective manner and at a significantly greater speed (Kay, 2012). Both commercial and academic use of high quality video assets provide constant validation that information perception and knowledge assimilation dramatically change when a story is being told visually (Orús et al., 2016). Storytelling engages learners and captures their attention inherently by the nature of the format. Each visual story is a stream of information the audience must buffer and process, while also translating and assessing the context of what has been learned in terms of purpose, goals and refined knowledge (Chtouki, Harroud, Khalidi, & Bennani, 2012).

New multimedia technologies and techniques have provided a wide range of options and ways to upgrade the productivity of learning and teaching. Facilitating 3D visualizations and 3D models when creating educational material, is an established practice for a powerful learning experience with immersive environments and active roles inside them (Chau et al., 2013). 3D technologies are an integral part of modern digital assets and the platforms that host them. Their use is very common if not necessary for the development of soft skills and cognitive abilities that require better context understanding. Building virtual environments that accurately simulate critical events and scenarios is rapidly becoming the norm for hands-on experience in industry and other science domains where the cost and the complexity of providing real-case scenarios is forbidding (Bednarz, James, Widzyk-Capehart, Caris, & Alem, 2015). The gamification of a learning process is augmented in every aspect, when the quality of the assets and the story is high. Providing a well-thought serious game requires mechanisms and content that motivates and fosters a feeling of accomplishment. 3D technologies now provide a platform and a medium for satisfying the learner, encouraging involvement and stimulating his or her critical thinking in complex tasks (Villagrasa, Fonseca, Redondo, & Duran, 2014).

The potential of the provided 3D virtual environments and 3D objects lies primarily in the training of personnel that has the skills and background information to translate the visualized components into actionable knowledge. Modern engineering departments are currently familiarizing faculty and students with the concepts of Learning Factory (Baena, Guarin, Mora, Sauza, & Retat, 2017) and its modern paradigms (Chryssolouris, Mavrikios, & Rentzos, 2016). Adopting mechanisms that can instantiate these concepts, the presented research employs photorealism and interactivity to create a virtual training experience that offers the potentiality of better immersion without the cost and scheduling overhead of using expensive machinery units and physical mock-ups inside a classroom or a lab. Training through the use of 3D objects offers very tangible and competitive advantages over traditional methods of vocational education and training (VET):

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  Enrolling in courses with consistent participation and interactive sessions. 3D training simulates real world experiences and this capturing process captivates trainees and increases retention.

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  Trainees can navigate and explore events and spaces in a risk-free, but nevertheless realistic environment that encourages learning and ensures safe experimentation.

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  Accelerated learning with leveled content consumption and longer unsupervised sessions adds up to a more cost-efficient allocation of resources, capitalizing in passive assets and allowing better allocation of human resources in key aspects of training.

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  3D virtual training is very effective in demonstrating interconnecting mechanisms and interfacing components inside sophisticated machinery that cannot be accessed or viewed by the human eye.