Work in Progress – Augmented Reality Smart Tele-Assisting Technology for Enhancing Engineering Education

Abstract

The laboratories play an important phase in the educational learning process by providing an interactive learning technique and inspiring students to acquire practical skills. However, the current coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has increased educational uncertainty significantly. Laboratory experiments have been suspended indefinitely, compelling the education institutions to accept-wider use of virtual and remote learning. This research aims to understand the issues students confront in physical/remote laboratories and explores how physical labs could be digitalized through Augmented Reality (AR) smart glasses. The research paper presents a survey of undergraduate engineering students’ perceptions towards the use of AR smart glasses in laboratories. Fosters student to carry out experiments through AR smart glasses to view digital warning messages superimposed on the actual environment, allowing them to dive deeper into information and better comprehend the topic According to the findings, more than 85% of students are interested in adopting AR smart glasses. The survey findings show that integrating emerging technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR) and Artificial Intelligence (Al)-will improve student engagement and learning outcomes by increasing students’ depth of connections between the content students are learning and the real-world outside the classroom. Additionally, it enables students to perform experiments remotely without affecting their self-efficacy by experimenting-with laboratory kits delivered off-campus.