This paper presents a proposal and an initial prototype for a Serious Game (SG) aimed at helping second-language learners memorize a list of non-linked vocabulary items under a system of... Show More

This paper presents a proposal and an initial prototype for a Serious Game (SG) aimed at helping second-language learners memorize a list of non-linked vocabulary items under a system of visuospatial bootstrapping (Darling et al., 2017). The usefulness of such a tool was suggested by the efficient outcomes of spatial mnemonics in TEFL providing 21st-century teachers, students, and game designers with new possibilities and it represents a new application of CALL. The game design is based on a modified version of Kalmpourtzis’ AMSTP game design model (2019) and it uses aesthetics, mechanics, story, technology, and pedagogy as its basis, adding the sixth element to its core: user expertise. The resulting AMSTP-UE framework allows in-game analysis from the point of view of a teacher, a learner, or a game designer. The game is a first-person walking simulator using the medium of virtual reality (VR) to provide its players with the feeling of presence in a virtual world. The prototype suggests using visuospatial information, deep learning APIs, and in-game data capture.

Pandemics create a lot of disruptions in the society and we are directly affected. Covid-19 pandemic has changed a lot of aspects of human lives since the beginning of 2020. Several countries have... Show More

Pandemics create a lot of disruptions in the society and we are directly affected. Covid-19 pandemic has changed a lot of aspects of human lives since the beginning of 2020. Several countries have gone for complete lockdown for several months to protect their citizens. Other countries too have restricted many common activities to some extent. In the majority of the countries, traditional classes in the schools, colleges and universities were not possible. Smart classrooms have emerged as a main alternative for the traditional classes. These smart classrooms are very much different from the video broadcasting. Several immersive and interactive technologies have been proposed for smart classrooms. In this article, we provide the basic principles of smart classrooms, their enabling technologies, and their impact on the education sector. We also provide specific pandemic centric initiatives for effective education in a virtual environment and their effects on the students, teachers and other stakeholders.

Augmented reality can enhance human perception to experience a virtual-reality intertwined world by computer vision techniques. However, the basic techniques cannot handle complex large-scale... Show More

Augmented reality can enhance human perception to experience a virtual-reality intertwined world by computer vision techniques. However, the basic techniques cannot handle complex large-scale scenes, tackle real-time occlusion, and render virtual objects in augmented reality. Therefore, this paper studies potential solutions, such as visual SLAM and image segmentation, that can address these challenges in the augmented reality visualizations. This paper provides a review of advanced visual SLAM and image segmentation techniques for augmented reality. In addition, applications of machine learning techniques for improving augmented reality are presented.