Creating a Multimodal 3D Virtual Environment

Abstract

Multimodal virtual environments can add value to teaching and learning in school contexts although touch based multimodal virtual environments have rarely been used to support the studying of natural sciences. This thesis describes the techniques and tools used in developing an application framework for multimodal virtual environments. Three multimodal applications were designed and implemented: the Density and the Leverage applications, both of which were meant to help in physics and chemistry studies, as well as a 3D Construction application that can help to perceive three-dimensional objects and spatial perception. To find out the effectiveness of the applications a study was conducted in a school context in which the applications were used by the teachers and pupils in Ylöjärvi elementary school in Finland. The results from the study were generally positive on utilizing the multimodal applications in school context. With the applications it was possible to concretize often abstract and complex physical and geometrical phenomena.

Keywords: Multimodal virtual environment, haptics, graphics, force feedback.