English learning with VR and AR

In China, a large number of kids spend more than 2 hours on screen every day, however most of these activities are just for entertainment. In my view, these screen time can also be a chance for Chinese kids to learn English. So I decide to start this small program to use virtual reality to make short animations which can help kids to memorize English vocabulary effectively after watching the VR animation. After watching videos, the kids will get the information about the model which appeared in the video, including the pronunciation, picture and the example sentence. I believe that in this way, Chinese kids can be more effective to learn English.

I would like to create a place called "Secret Island" where kids can put themselves in a Cartoon World with google cardboard. In this Demo, kids can see masses bees flying in front of them, cloud passing by them, watching deer walking in very short distance and dragon playing in a view with 360 degree. In this demo, there has a speak aside telling the kids what is happening . I’m making the attempt to put different elements in this demo which may attract kids and  help them to remember their visual experience. The rock, bees, cloud, deer and dragons are the main elements in my demo, and helping kids to memorize the vocabulary efficiently is my ultimate aim and expectation.

I love Cinema 4D and I finished most of my works in cinema 4D. Such like modeling, texture and some of the animation. After that, I put all of the elements in Unity 3D, and made into scene. I ‘ve download google cardboard SDK for unity and attempt to make my  animation more perfect. Finally I completed my VR animation successfully and test it in my phone with google cardboard. As far as I’m concerned, the completed VR animation creates powerful expectation for me and I will be confident and be able to make it increasingly successful.

After watching VR animation, all the kids will get the information cards which can help them memorize vocabularies effectively. They can know the pronunciation, Chinese meaning and example sentences from the cards.

I began to learn how to use Unity 3D few months ago and I knew there is a SDK called Vuforia accidentally. Vuforia uses Computer Vision technology to recognize and track planar images (Image Targets) and simple 3D objects in real-time, which enables the creation of Augmented Reality applications. I think it is the perfect way for me to make an application to help kids to review what they have learned by the information cards. I believe that the mix of real life and virtual reality displayed by the apps would help kids to learn English with fun.

Making of the AR app

Firstly, I downloaded the Vuforia SDK for Unity and add ed a License key to it. Then I went to the Target Manager in Vuforia.com to create a database where I can put my information card’s images on it.  After that I download these data-set for the Unity Editor and put my models into unity. After some operation, I got my AR animation and building up an app in my smart phone. 

Experiment

In order to test my prototype, I asked my friend who is teaching in He Zhou Primary School to help. We invited 5 children from 8 to 10 years old to watch the VR Cartoon and gave them information card after the video. We would like to know how many words they can remember from five information cards.

As a result, one student can remember all the five words and other students can remember 2-4 words respectively. Most of them think the video is attractive and cool since they can observe the  cartoon world in a view of 360 degree. However, there is a kid still think English is difficult for him to learn. I’m glad to see this result and I think this project will help kids to learn English in some way. In my next step, I’m going to put more elements in my VR animation and make it like a story. I believe that in this way, kids can learn English effectively and with fun.