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Ezequiel Martinez

Ms. Briones

ENGL-1301-123

November 7, 2023

Peer Reviewed Article: “Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality in Education. Myth or Reality?”

Noureddine Elmqaddem authored a paper titled "Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality

in Education. Myth or Reality?" He is a researcher at Ecole des Sciences de Information (ESI),

Rabat, Morocco. His thesis is unknown; however, a reader may make an approximate thesis

about it. Past and future technologies lead to open answers for the able evolution process. He

explores the evolution of technologies used in augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR) and

tries to verify whether VR and AR are a reality or myth. According to the author, “Augmented

reality and virtual reality are not new technologies” (Elmqaddem 1).

What are virtual reality and augmented reality? Virtual reality is a technology that allows

us to immerse ourselves in an artificial world as a fictional world. It is used using a helmet with

360 degrees. Augmented reality is an enhanced version of the physical world. It is for seeing

digital visual elements. For example, the man uses AR, and he sees small buildings on the floor

in the physical world.

In addition, according to the author, “the first VR was created at the University of Utah in

the 1970s by Daniel Vickers” (Elmqaddem 1). Also, according to the author, “The term "Virtual

Reality" was proposed in the United States in the 1980s by Jaron Lanier, and the term

"augmented reality" was coined by researchers Thomas Caudell and David Mizell in 1990 to

describe how the head-mounted displays that electricians used when assembling complicated
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wiring harnesses worked” (Elmqaddem 1). Why wasn't it popular before? That is because those

are not yet fully advanced and are expensive.

Since the 1980s, VR has sought to get the attention of the public without actual success,

and VR's technologies were not well at that time. Noureddine Elmqaddem mentioned that on

three pages. Since 2014, VR for the public has continued to increase with the arrival of helmets

that are both more efficient and affordable. The new rise of VR technology has promised real

success this time by Giants like Google, Facebook, HTC, and Sony (through their Cardboard,

Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and PlayStation VR helmet) because VR has evolved over the last 5

years and is remarkable. According to Abrash, “Giants will see the next few years will be even

more impressive” (2016) from Elmqaddem’s article. Anyway, the fields of application of this

technology are everything: architecture, surgical procedures, training with simulators, and

respective types of learning. VR makes learners feel more active, more motivated, better open-

minded, and ready to learn and communicate with others. It has proven learners' level of

attention by 100% and improved test results by 30%.

Conversely, AR can make films in the real world and invert virtual objects, animations,

sounds, and texts from the screen of a computer, a tablet, and a pair of glasses as examples. It

was expensive and the software complicated, which made learner users unable to deal with it, in

1999. According to the author, “The release of ARToolKit2 to the open-source community by H.

Kato and Billinghurst in 1999 gave a fresh start to that technology. At that time, they proposed

an augmented reality conferencing system, which uses the overlay of virtual images in the real

world and allows users to collaboratively view and interact with virtual objects using a shared

virtual whiteboard [3]” (Elmqaddem 5). Later, it evolved and became widespread through the

accessibility of smartphones and tablets. Tons of studies have revealed the positive effect of VR
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on the learning process because they want to see how AR work is done as an effective tool. AR

is effective as same as VR. According to Elmqaddem, “Screen machines, such as computers and

telephones, will be replaced by immersive devices based on VR and AR” (5). Experts predict

that shortly. According to Elmqaddem, “The area of application of AR affects entertainment

(including video games) as well as tourism, architecture, medicine, education, and industry” (6).

It allows learners to follow the guide in real-time. For example, medical students can manipulate

and visualize the human body with high precision without real-life risks. According to

Elmqaddem, “According to Kurubacak and Altinpulluk, AR provides respective educational

benefits. For students, these benefits can be short as courses’ being fun, reducing cognitive load,

increasing motivation and interest towards the course, increasing opportunity to ask questions,

increasing interaction between students, new opportunities for individual learning, concretizing

abstract concepts, the rise of success” (6). Why was this effective in helping convince readers?

He effectively convinces readers that both are not just myths but a reality in education.

In conclusion, AR and VR have evolved over time, and are mature enough to be

participated in education programs. Those will be trustworthy enough. According to Elmqaddem,

“Many recent hardware and software improvements show that soon, AR and VR will be reliable

enough as new computing platforms” (7). Anyway, AR's radical changes and new teaching

should satisfy the needs of the learner of the 21st century for no longer think it will be the same

20 or 19 century. It is the same thing as VR. Plus, Giants consider both because those are

interesting fields for investment that promise a bright future. That means both require a lot of

improvements and change by engineers, experts, teachers, and all persons related to the field of

education and are more comfortable and accessible, however, “Long use of the VR and AR

headsets proposed for now causes some discomfort, so they must deploy more forward education
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programs that fit well with the nature of these technologies and fulfill the learner's needs”

(Elmqaddem 8). Also, According to Elmqaddem, “However, an effective adaptation of AR and

VR in education and learning will not happen until some technical and social issues are resolved

and education programs are more adapted to take full advantage of the potential of these

technologies” (2). In the future, it will be widely accepted in all domains, so it will no longer be a

myth but a reality. As a surprise, it is just scratching the surface of what they will allow us to do

shortly the author mentioned.

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Work Cited

Elmqaddem, Noureddine. “Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality in Education. Myth or

Reality?” International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET), vol. 14,

no. 3, 2019, pp. 234–42,

https://www.semanticscholar.org/reader/829c2349c6d7ce5af4f9c49a5e35b4f7dc05fa5f.

[Accessed 11/7/2023]