Development of traditional musical instruments using augmented reality (AR) through mobile learning

Abstract

The public music education curriculum in Malaysia was first introduced as a compulsory subject into the primary schools since 1983 through the program of “Integrated Primary School Curriculum”. The main aim of Malaysian music education is for pupils to develop an interest and an appreciation of music and songs of the Malaysian culture. In addition, the specific aim of music education in the Integrated Primary School Curriculum is to produce students who have a basic knowledge and understanding of music, as well as minimum skills in producing music. When comparing to the traditional method (non-interactive), one of the drawbacks is the missing level of realism. Therefore, an Augmented Reality (AR) based approach may offer a way out to enhance the visual information. AR technology has been established and matured to the peak where the education sector can use it for effective teaching and learning especially to provide realistic learning experience to the students. In addition, the Ministry of Higher Education is strongly urging to get on board of the digital transformation since AR is one of the nine pillars that define Industry 4.0. The objectives of this research has two folds: (i) to promote Malaysian music education especially the traditional musical instrument to young generation by exploiting the technology from AR and (ii) to develop an AR application by enriching the digital content on top of the traditional musical instrument to help the students in the primary school to understand and learn the traditional musical instruments anywhere and at anytime. This research is found to be able to support interactions between students in the class, cultivating more interest in traditional music and instruments through the smooth transition between the reality and virtuality, as the interaction with a computer can improve the interest in learning and teaching.