"Die Erde in Mixed Reality" was a part of my bachelor thesis. This project is about creating a prototype for an interactive learning experience, with the target group being children aged eight to twelve. The combination of a textbook and a mixed reality app opens up a new way of learning for pupils. With the help of a Leap Motion Controller, the game can be controlled intuitively with gestures of the hands.
The reason for limiting the game to this age group is that the entire game is framed by an exciting story that is specially adapted to this age. It is told by the leading character Quinn, an alien teenager from the planet Ægir. Quinn assists the young users with tips and background information and gives feedback on tasks. The book covers the basic teaching of the learning content. In the game, what has been learned can be tested, applied and deepened. The aim of my work is to make it more fun for pupils to engage with the learning content at school and to make it easier for them to understand abstract scientific problems. At the same time, they are introduced to new technologies such as augmented, virtual and mixed reality as well as gesture control.
The game is divided into a PC version and a smartphone version. The desktop version includes the integration of gesture control with the Leap Motion Controller. In the mobile app, the Mixed Reality implementation comes to use. Mathematical topics such as volume and area calculations or models of volcanoes are projected as 3D models into the child's own room and illustrated in a child-friendly way.
Since the time frame for the Bachelor's thesis was limited, I decided to work only on individual topics from the subjects of home & science for grades three and four, physics for grade five, mathematics for sixth graders and geography in seventh grade. In order to give the individual topics a consistent framework, the examples in the book and the individual Mini Games are framed by a story. In this, the teenager Quinn asks the children for help to rebuild his destroyed home planet. He teaches them the necessary knowledge about life on Earth, that has to be used to make the planet Ægir revivable again.
