Back to School

So, fast-forward several years to 2007 when I started my doctoral program in Communications Design (now Information and Interaction Design) at the University of Baltimore. I had thought at the time I would focus on something work-related. Refining our data collection system with something digital and upload-able to replace the pen-and-paper method we had been using - which involved multiple copies, and errors, before it finally got to our database - was paramount. Unfortunately, management's ideas of going digital didn't mesh with mine, so very early in my doctoral studies, I went in another direction. Thanks to a classmate, I discovered augmented reality (AR) and Environmental Dectectives, the first AR game created by MIT's Teacher Education Program in 2003. In this game, students used location-aware handheld devices (archaic by today's standards) in the physical space of MIT's campus to determine the origin of a fictional toxic chemical spill. In the role of investigative field scientists, students can choose to interview virtual characters to gather information, determine locations to drill for soil samples, and prepare a presentation for the president of the university, all within the constraint of a two-hour time period.

Because time is limited and there is not enough time to interview everyone or to drill more than a handful of wells, students must make choices between collecting interviews, gathering background information, and drilling wells, adjusting and reprioritizing goals as new information becomes available. (quoted from 
http://education.mit.edu/ar/ed.html)

This idea intrigued me. A role-playing scenario again, this time with digital augmentation through handheld devices. Surely not ideal - wouldn't hands-free devices such as glasses (if they didn't give you tunnel vision or nearly break the bridge of your nose) or contacts be better - but certainly very portable and best of all, ubiquitous and affordable.