Abstract:
In this research, the awareness and the preference of
using Virtual Reality (VR) as a medium of Learning in the
Emerging Regions in South Asia such as Sri Lanka, was
assessed with a randomly selected audience of 250. Currently
VR is one of the fastest growing industries globally and
application of Virtual Reality in Education and Learning plays
a significant role in its growth. Yet in emerging regions such as
Sri Lanka, the uses of such technologies are relatively less. The
experiment was conducted with 250 volunteers provided with a
questionnaire before and after experiencing the Virtual
Learning Environment (VLE). Historic scenery of Chola
Dynasty was created with a Virtual tutor where the user was
given the complete freedom to navigate in the historic scenery
and learn from the virtual tutor. The scenery was designed and
developed by considering Human Computer Interaction (HCI)
heuristics, Hand-Gestures and realistic audio material in order
to provide the learner a realistic and an immersive experience.
The results showed that the majority of the school students
show a major interest in using VR as a medium of learning and
the second highest to show such an interest within the sample
were the undergraduates. Even though the majority of the
student and undergraduate community have not experienced
VR before, this being their first encounter with a VR based
application showed positive results. Also having various handgestures
for the virtual characters used for tutoring showed to
be very much effective as demonstrated by the results of the
experiment.
