6 COMMENT Training in tomorrow's world


There are many interesting technological developments in L&D, but augmented reality is possibly the most exciting, says Professor Steve Wheeler


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Tablets such as the iPad have enabled people to learn through natural gestures such


as pinching, tapping and swiping – movements everyone seems to get intuitively. This is good because people naturally learn better if they are not worrying about how things work. But we are moving a step further


than that now with non-touch and facial recognition technology. Remember Tom Cruise in Minority Report, swiping around while wearing “data gloves"? Just a decade ago, it seemed futuristic but we’re moving way beyond that now with things like the Kinect for Xbox 360, which allows you to play games and control your television through movement and voice commands.


The potential for learning offered


by this kind of technology is vast. Medicine is one example: one of the biggest challenges for surgeons is keeping everything sterile, making something as simple as reviewing an x-ray in theatre a real challenge. Having a virtual screen staff could swipe – without even touching – could solve that problem and is something medical schools are exploring at the moment. Engineers could benefit too. If you


could see inside a machine without having to take out all the bolts and screws, you could probably fix things a lot quicker. Developments in augmented


reality – technology that can blur the line between what’s real and what’s


The film Minority Report showed how augmented reality could be used


computer-generated by enhancing what we see, hear, feel and smell – offer huge potential for training as “real-life" situations can be recreated for trainees to experience. Many managers find it hard to remember the names of their staff. Imagine if you could just slip on a pair of glasses that used facial recognition to give you their name, along with other information such


as how many children they have. It would be a fantastic way of at least appearing to have great people skills.


Steve Wheeler is associate professor of learning technology at Plymouth University. He will be giving a keynote address on new technologies at the World of Learning Conference on 2 October. www.learnevents.com


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