Virtual reality has shaken the foundations of education. Having the possibility of creating realistic worlds and scenarios where to practice skills opens a new horizon of possibilities. However, simulators are not new. Military, pilots and physicians have been educating their fellows in that way for years. The turning point is the arrival of “cheap” devices that give the opportunity of diving in those virtual worlds to many people.
In this talk we present our project: Comunicarte. A simulator to improve public speaking skills through virtual reality. Once you put the VR headset on, you face a virtual audience. Then, you can start your speech while the system measures your heart rate, body language or voice pitch, among others parameters. The audience will respond to those measures by looking with interest, by taking their cell phones out, or even by leaving the room. At the end of your speech the system will give feedback to the speakers to give them the possibility of improving their public speaking.
After our project presentation we will give to the attendants the possibility of going into the fascinating world of virtual reality. Could you imagine becoming Luke Skywalker at Tatooine?
Finally, we aim to propose an open discussion on the possibilities of virtual reality in our society. How could it change our way of living or our way of educating?
Speakers: Borja Manero. Co Principal Investigator of Comunicarte (FBBVA) project. RCC Research Fellow, Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences (2016); Co-Chair of Arts and Technologies in Leadership Study Group. Associate Professor at Complutense University of Madrid, Faculty of Computer Sciences. Meriem El-Yamri. PhD candidate at Complutense University of Madrid. Visiting researcher at Tufts University (Eliot-Pearson Dept. of Child Study & Human Development). Alejandro Romero. PhD candidate at Complutense University of Madrid. Visiting researcher at New York University (Tisch School of the arts- Game Center). Manuel Gonzalez-Riojo. Masters Student at Complutense University of Madrid.
Sponsors: RCC; Fundación BBVA. Arts and Technologies in Leadership (ATL): The global pre-texts project Study Group.
LOCATION:RCC Conference Room, 26 Trowbridge St., Cambridge MA. STATUS:CONFIRMED DTSTART:20190425T220000Z DTEND:20190425T230000Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR