I'm a tech creator
Virtual avatars. Immersive social scenes.
Real-time interaction in different places.
The fun that can only be experienced in VRCHAT.
at HKUST (Guangzhou).
It becomes a real course.
On December 1, the fall of 2023 was jointly participated by HKUST (Guangzhou) and HKUST studentsMet**erse cross-disciplinary design thinking courseSuccessful completion of the course. Prof. Ni Mingxuan, President of HKUST(GZ), and Prof. Wu Jingshen, Vice President (Teaching) of HKUST(GZ), attended the closing ceremony. Prof. Xu Bin, Chair Professor of Computing** and Arts at HKUST (GZ) and Director of the Centre for Metaverse and Computational Creativity (Metaverse Research Centre), officiated at the ceremony.
As early as July last year, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology announced the launch of the world's first metaverse twin campus program (MetaHKUST), which will establish the world's first physical-digital twin campus. In the Hong Kong Science and Technology Campus of Yanbi VR and LLM, this cross-campus and interdisciplinary "Metaverse version of design thinking class" has been very popular from the beginning of course selection. In the end, 10 students from HKUST (GZ) and HKUST each took this year's Metaverse Joint Interdisciplinary Design Thinking course, making a useful attempt for the promotion of MetaHKUST. The course uses digital twin technology to build a metaverse virtual classroomRealizing synchronous classes, Xi and exchanges between students from the two universities is a wonderful practice of the two universities under the framework of "HKUST is one, and the two universities complement each other".
It is understood that with the support of Professor Wu Jingshen, Professor Feng Zhixiong, Associate Vice President (Teaching) of HKUST, and Professor Qu Huamin, Dean of the School of Interdisciplinary Studies, Professor Xu Bin, together with Professor Chen Min, Director of the Red Bird Master's Division of our university, Dr. Wang Yuyang of the Department of Computing** and the Faculty of Arts of HKUST, and Dr. Zhang Rong, Lecturer of HKUST, comprehensively considered the needs of scene layout, interaction design, network optimization, etc., determined the technical scheme of the course, and combined it with the projects of Red Bird students for research and development to ensure the smooth progress of the course.
The Fall 2023 Metaverse Joint Interdisciplinary Design Thinking course is numbered EMIA6500C. At the closing ceremony, Dr. Zhang Rong said that the C stands for Cross-Disciplinary, Cross-Campus and Cross-Reality, and also represents the "4C skills of the 21st century": critical thinking, creativity and communication , and collaboration.
Innovative teaching methods transcend the world
Students attend classes in different places simultaneously
The virtual space platform broadens the medium of traditional teaching, and provides more possibilities for education in terms of environment and interactive content. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology each have two physical classrooms, through which teachers and students in Guangzhou and Hong Kong Clear Water Bay can interact with each other in the same activity (lectures, tutorials, seminars) wearing MR glasses.
The metaverse virtual classroom connects many use scenarios and meets the expectations of many students for the course:
Transcend the limits of time and space
Liu Erdong:We collaborate in the metaverse to solve problems together, especially when designing and ideating new products, with the ability to bring ideas to life immediately and get instant feedback from peers, an experience that traditional classrooms can't provide.
Zhang Keyu:I remember one class, Mr. Zhang Rong was away in Australia on a business trip, and he could still teach normally with us through the metaverse, which impressed me deeply.
Spanning the virtual and the real
Sun Jia:We are able to immerse ourselves in a virtual environment and interact with 3D models and virtual digital humans, which is incomparable to traditional education models.
Zhang Keyu:The nature of the metaverse makes it easy to do things like prototyping. In the metaverse classroom, you can freely use blocks to build models, and you can also use brushes to draw in three-dimensional space, so you can easily visualize your ideas.
Break the traditional form of interaction
Liu Qianxi:I was interested in VR development, and after taking the class, I found that there were many surprises in the VR class. At first I was a little dizzy in 3D, but now I'm comfortable with taking classes in a virtual environment. I was able to interact with the teachers and classmates in Clear Water Bay, such as dialogue, presentation, and drawing. The entire metaverse classroom has taken shape, and I am very much looking forward to the development of the course in the future, and I also hope to see more interactive elements under VR and MR to create a more interesting classroom with long-distance interaction.
Weng Cekai:I am a student with a background in architectural design, and I am now doing some research on 3D generation, and the metaverse is an important application scenario of scene generation technology. After a semester of optimization, the whole process is presented with a great presentation that can break the boundaries of reality. With the release of the Vision Pro and the addition of Apple, I believe that the condition of the hardware will improve.
Searching for a deeper meaning in life
Liu Erdong:I look forward to seeing this innovative teaching model more widely used in the future, stimulating more students' creativity and collaboration." Learning Xi is not only about absorbing knowledge, but also about growing through continuous experimentation and innovation.
Sun Jia:Through the Metaverse Art Exhibition, our group thinks about how art curation can be better combined with education, and how to enter and integrate into people's daily life. The virtual interstellar experience, the collaborative creation of artists and AI, and the virtual laboratory experience in the exhibition will lead the audience to travel through time and space and experience the fantasy journey of the metaverse. The functions of the metaverse course give the metaverse art exhibition interactivity and playability. We also call on the audience to open the boundaries of their thinking, explore the unknown, feel the innovation, and taste the art with us.
Photo courtesy of the interviewee.
it takes time for good things to happen.Huang Chenyu, a master's student at Red Bird, recalled that when he first landed in the metaverse, his classmates would more or less encounter problems such as halo 3D, delay, and disconnectionBut with the continuous development of functions, the playability of metaverse classrooms has gone far beyond offline classrooms where you can only sit at a desk and stare at a computer screen or projection.
I've never taken a class of this kind before, and I was very excited at first. Yin Zhizhuo, a doctoral student in the field of computing and art, believes that the realism of the classroom scene is no different from the level of commercial games, and the class is taught with VRStudents can move anywhere they want, which is highly interactive and conducive to stimulating the creative thinking of their classmates.
The project completed by Yin Zhizhuo and the group members in this class is "Art Education in the Metaverse Art Exhibition". To a certain extent, art exhibitions based on physical space hinder visitors' appreciation of artworks, and in physical space, artists cannot effectively obtain visitors' first impressions of their works, so as to make improvements. In order to solve these problems, Yin Zhizhuo and others proposed to conduct art exhibitions in the metaverse, where visitors can observe the digital twins or digital exhibits of the artworks on display at a close, multi-angle and immersive level, and can also carry out real prices for the artworks, so as to realize two-way art education in the metaverse space.
Principal Ni Mingxuan experienced the feeling of taking classes in the metaverse virtual classroom on the spot. He believes that this course is a good attempt, which has laid a good foundation for the start of the Metahkust project, and put forward follow-up optimization suggestions for the teachers and students who are responsible for the course design.
A metaverse classroom is more than just a classroom
The creative scene continues to upgrade
Since last month, the construction plan of the metaverse classroom has been on the agenda. Professor Xu Bin recalled that the design of the classroom was progressiveIts design concept is based on reality and transcends realityStudents can complete their Xi in the sky, in the forest, and in the universe.
In the view of the team led by Professor Xu BinThe transformation of the virtual and real scenes in the classroom is not a "migration", but a kind of "co-prosperity". The development of the metaverse has brought new possibilities to the existing ways of information expression, which has an impact on people's perception of the environment, self-expression, and exploration of the surrounding environment. What people expect is not choice, but a fusion of the virtual and the real.
Here, it's not so much a classroom as it is in an infinite space. **The digital metaverse virtual classroom space is huge, with red birds soaring in mid-air, roving flights, and the red bird sculpture in the welcome area is 6 times larger than reality, and these elements are presented in a dynamic form, making the entire platform more interactive. If you are tired, you can find an open space to create and write - in the offline classroom, this may be tantamount to "running to see the black swan during class" and "fishing in class", but in the metaverse,I tend to think of it as emotional support and spiritual healing between heavy academic tasks, thanks to the presence of the mind and the detachment of the incarnation (**atar). Huang Chenyu said.
Defining "me" in the virtual world is the first step in embracing the metaverse. Students can manipulate various avatars designed by themselves to report projects on the large speech screen, and can also Xi the artworks created by others in real time while standing in front of the exhibition board in the exhibition hall. In addition to information transmission and environmental interaction, language sharing is also a highlight of the metaverse virtual classroom. The 20 students in this class were divided into 5 groups, each with students from Guangzhou and Clear Water Bay, who were able to sit down and discuss in the group seats, and adjust the sound to "heard by people nearby", without affecting each other.
From a VR gamer to a VR scene design and builder, Sun Jia, a master's student at Red Bird, has grown a lot in the process. She embeds the entire course scene in the vast universe, allowing students to feel as if they are wandering between the stars and feeling the vastness and mystery of the universe. “This design gives Xi a sense of adventure and exploration, and every lesson becomes a new technological adventure. Sun Jia said that these unique designs not only break through the limitations of traditional classrooms, but also open the door to unknown territory for students under the guidance of technology and innovation.
Jin Shan, who is also a master's student of Redbird, is in the process of completing the projectHe has a deeper understanding of "user-centered product development", and in order to capture the interests of his classmates, he will update the experience content for his classmates every weekFor example, the team independently designed the VR brush function, which allows students to create at will in the virtual classroom space and use 3D brushes to write down their infinite imagination. "In the future, we also want to put the model of the school into it, so that students from the two schools can 'hang out' each other in the virtual space. "Jin Shan told us about his vision for the future of the project.
With the resolution of technology and equipment issues, we hope to support more students to participate in the Xi of the course in the future. Professor Xu Bin saidAlthough the course was a successful conclusion, it was only the beginning. He will use the MR Metaverse Classroom platform to open more courses, and the "Social Media for Creatives" course is already in preparation, which will make better use of the hyper-human digital human technology and the immersive characteristics of the Metaverse to make more teaching innovations in AI-assisted teaching in the Metaverse.
At the end of the closing ceremony, Dr. Zhang Rong sang the original song "Meta Design Thinking" to the teachers and students present, drawing a perfect end to the course.
Hong Kong Science and Technology is a good class
The series of reports focuses on the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou)'s innovative "integrated curriculum system for general and professional education", and takes you to have an in-depth understanding of "our home classroom"!
**: Editorial Department of No. 1 Duxue Road
Editorial Assistant: Huang Chenyu, Student Journalist Group