Visualising Relativity Using Virtual Reality (original) (raw)
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Student experiences of virtual reality: A case study in learning special relativity
American Journal of Physics, 2010
We present a study of student learning through the use of virtual reality. A software package is used to introduce concepts of special relativity to students in a game-like environment where users experience the effects of travelling at near light speeds. From this new perspective, space and time are significantly different to that experienced in everyday life. The study explores how students have worked with this environment and how these students have used this experience in their study of special relativity. A mixed method approach has been taken to evaluate the outcomes of separate implementations of the package at two universities. Students found the simulation to be a positive learning experience and described the subject area as being less abstract after its use. Also, students were more capable of correctly answering concept questions relating to special relativity, and a small but measurable improvement was observed in the final exam.
Teaching special relativity using virtual reality
Proceedings of the …
Learning Special Relativity is a highly anticipated experience for first year students; however, the teaching and learning of Special Relativity are difficult tasks. Special Relativity, while fundamentally and mathematically simple; has apparently bizarre implications and ...
Universe
Einstein described the relationship between mass and energy using the theory of special relativity by a simple equation, E=mc2. Mass–energy equivalence implies that mass can be converted into energy and vice versa. In this study, a virtual reality (VR) system was developed for learners to take a spacecraft travelling at nearly the speed of light to conduct space exploration and understand the concepts of special relativity and mass–energy equivalence. A teaching experiment was conducted to investigate the learning effectiveness and cognitive load of learners by recruiting 60 students as research samples. The experimental group (30 students) used the VR system and the control group (30 students) used physics textbooks for learning special relativity and mass–energy equivalence. The experimental results reveal that the learning effectiveness of the experimental group is higher than that of the control group while the cognitive load of the former is lower than that of the latter. The q...
2012
"Abstract Special Relativity, as introduced by Einstein, is regarded as one of the most important revolutions in the history of physics. Nevertheless, the observation of direct outcomes of this theory on mundane objects is impossible because they can only be witnessed when travelling at relative speeds approaching the light velocity c. These effects are so counterintuitive and contradicting with our daily understanding of space and time that physics students find it hard to learn special relativity beyond mathematical equations and to understand the deep implications of the theory. Although we cannot travel at the speed of light, Virtual Reality (VR) makes it possible to experiment the effects of relativity in a 3D immersive environment (a CAVE: Cave Automatic Virtual Environment). The use of the immersive environment is underpinned by the development of dedicated learning scenarios created through a dialectic between VR-related computational constraints and cognitive constraints that include students’ difficulties. Investigating student’s understanding of relativistic situations (that involve relative speeds close to c) led to the typifying of a cognitive profile that governed the situations to be implemented into the CAVE and the associated learning scenarios. Keywords: Student’s difficulties in special relativity, 3D immersive environment, event, reference frame. "
Designing learning scenarios for a 3D virtual environment: The case of special relativity
Special Relativity, as introduced by Einstein, is regarded as one of the most important revolutions in the history of physics. Nevertheless, the observation of direct outcomes of this theory on mundane objects is impossible because they can only be witnessed when travelling at relative speeds approaching the light velocity c. These effects are so counterintuitive and contradicting with our daily understanding of space and time that physics students find it hard to learn special relativity beyond mathematical equations and to understand the deep implications of the theory. Although we cannot travel at the speed of light, Virtual Reality (VR) makes it possible to experiment the effects of relativity in a 3D immersive environment (a CAVE: Cave Automatic Virtual Environment). The use of the immersive environment is underpinned by the development of dedicated learning scenarios created through a dialectic between VR-related computational constraints and cognitive constraints that include...
Learning scenario for a 3D virtual environment: the case of Special Relativity
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2014
Special Relativity, as introduced by Einstein, is regarded as one of the most important revolutions in the history of physics. Nevertheless, the observation of direct outcomes of this theory on mundane objects is impossible because they can only be witnessed when travelling at relative speeds approaching the speed of light c. These effects are so counterintuitive and contradicting with our daily understanding of space and time that physics students find it hard to learn special relativity beyond mathematical equations and to understand the deep implications of the theory. Although we cannot travel at the speed of light, Virtual Reality (VR) makes it possible to experiment the effects of relativity in a 3D immersive environment (a CAVE: Cave Automatic Virtual Environment). The use of the immersive environment is underpinned by the development of dedicated learning scenarios created through a dialectic between VR-related computational constraints and cognitive constraints that include students' difficulties.
Learning Scenarios for a 3D Virtual Environment: The Case of Special Relativity
Springer Proceedings in Physics, 2014
Special Relativity, as introduced by Einstein, is regarded as one of the most important revolutions in the history of physics. Nevertheless, the observation of direct outcomes of this theory on mundane objects is impossible because they can only be witnessed when travelling at relative speeds approaching the speed of light c. These effects are so counterintuitive and contradicting with our daily understanding of space and time that physics students find it hard to learn special relativity beyond mathematical equations and to understand the deep implications of the theory. Although we cannot travel at the speed of light, Virtual Reality (VR) makes it possible to experiment the effects of relativity in a 3D immersive environment (a CAVE: Cave Automatic Virtual Environment). The use of the immersive environment is underpinned by the development of dedicated learning scenarios created through a dialectic between VR-related computational constraints and cognitive constraints that include students' difficulties.
Virtual Reality Media: The Simulation of Relativity Theory on Smartphone
Journal of Formatif, Volume 10, Issue 1, 2020
Learning physics science is ideally accomplished through the experiments, although the theory of special relativity is challenging to understand. It is difficult because this topic has not occurred in real experience, and no technology has launched at the speed of light. To understand this theory, Virtual Reality (VR) can potentially visualize the actual concept of relativity by presenting an artificial environment to the students. This research aims to develop the virtual reality application as a learning media for special relativity. This Research and Development uses the Lee and Owens Model, which consists of analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. The system development method used is black-box testing. The result of the system development is the creation of a VR application to explain the material of relativity. From the results of black-box testing, the test results show that the percentage of application system success is 83%. It indicates that the application is functioning correctly on smartphone usage so that this application can be used on the theory of relativity simulation users using virtual reality devices.
Visualizing Relativity Course Speakers
2013
This course is intended for attendees with simultaneous interests in the concepts of relativistic physics and in the practical extension of computer graphics methods to relativity. The first half of the course will focus on how relativistic effects can be intuitively understood starting from extremely simple Euclidean 2D geometry. The concept of object vertices as world-lines moving in a space that can be mixed with time is explained first in this context. Relativistic imaging is then explained in three dimensions, two space plus one time, exploiting analogies with Euclidean 3D geometry. Finally, fourdimensional spacetime is introduced to make the transition to the real world simulations treated in the final part of the course. The second half will concentrate on recent advances in visualization and photorealistic simulation of relativistic scenes and phenomena using computer graphics to show features that could never be seen in real life at human time and space scales. Properties o...