Rose Fina Barasa, the Project Coordinator @iLabAfrica, participated remotely in the Worldwide Virtual Reality Conference held in Toronto, Canada. The event lasted from June 6 to July 7, 2020. The experts on the topics of immersive communication engaged over 50 participants. The annual meeting brings together members of the largest Virtual Reality associations such as Ford Motor Company, Virtual ware, and Cisco among others.

For The Greater Good

According to Rose, immersive technologies such as Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are continually evolving. These realities are providing businesses with technologies that perform tasks. As a result, they save on business costs as they enhance marketing campaigns and design opportunities for their product development. Rose said that her goal is to use virtual reality to educate readers on conservation. It will include updating them on strategic actions and activities to save the majestic elephant, one of our Big Five. Also, she hopes to address other co-related issues of the communities near the wild-life reserves such as rural water sanitation through virtual education briefs. “There is a need to improve the proportion of facilities and provide adequate hygiene practices by creating virtual reality booths,” says Rose.

Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality

According to experts, Virtual Reality (VR) is the best known immersive technology. Users are absorbed into a computer-generated reality. VR applications were initially used for gaming and entertainment. However, today they are being blended into institutions such as the military, healthcare facilities, and educational settings.  Secondly, Augmented Reality (AR) is a technology that overlays digital information on the real world. Augmented reality enhances the real-world with images, text, and other virtual information via devices such as heads-up displays, smartphones, tablets, smart lenses, and AR glasses. Currently, most smartphones support AR experiences. Rose’s project involves using your smartphone camera to see the elephants move in their natural habitat.

At the click of a button

More applications are underway as individuals and institutions continue to experiment on ways technology can make life better. Rose is aiming to publish 5000 AR books focusing on Elephant Conservation that will be distributed to County schools and conservancies. We all need to embrace technology to make learning more engaging. As Alice Keller says the difference between “I am techie” and “I am not techie” is the willingness to click on stuff and see what happens.

@iLabAfrica

Is a Centre of Excellence in ICT Innovation and Development established in January 2011 under the Faculty of Information Technology at Strathmore University. The Centre carries out research and innovation in Information Communication Technology for the Development (ICT4D) of ecosystems. With this @iLabAfrica is gaining ground in securing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Kenya’s Vision 2030. @iLabAfrica is involved in the interdisciplinary research for student engagement, and collaboration with government, industry and funding agencies.

 

The article was written by Annete Karanja.

 

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