PORTFOLIO - Immersive games

ABOUT THE DOCTORAL RESEARCH

From a very early age, the construction of our understanding of physical reality is based in a decisive way on direct and interactive experimentation, a link between perception and cognition. And since experimentation plays a fundamental role in the progressive acquisition of knowledge on scientific topics, including physics, the objective of this doctoral project is to leverage the innovative technologies of Virtual Reality (VR), numerical simulations, and the new interactive techniques associated with them to design, develop, and evaluate new methods, tools, and experiments dedicated to acquiring knowledge in the field of physics. The approach adopted combines serious games, i.e., using game mechanics for a purpose other than the game itself, with the possibilities offered by VR to experience new physical situations in the first person. By combining a didactic framework with a serious game-based approach, the aim is to design, implement and evaluate the use of interactive real-time simulation tools in VR, comparing them with traditional educational approaches.

Recent advances in immersive interaction technologies, coupled with realistic real-time physical simulation engines, make it possible to create a credible virtual experimental space where the learner can get involved by manipulating actual objects to observe or predict their behaviour.