Moment Advisors

Background

Traditional education has a difficult time engaging students when it comes to learning complex, invisible, and abstract science concepts. Moment's 2016 summer intern group was challenged with the task of finding out how Virtual or Augmented Reality could enhance the learning experience for kids 9-14 years old.

Using design thinking and employing various techniques, we took on the challenge making learning more fun.

Research

In order to find ways to engage with students in the classroom, we conducted interviews, researched new technologies, and experienced different teaching methods.

To better understand how complex subjects are taught today, we reached out to the Blue School, Beam Center, and Zearn to learn more about teaching methodologies like S.T.E.A.M. (Science Technology Engineering Art and Math) and maker education.

Learning how the Blue School uses S.T.E.A.M. education to teach kids

After gaining valuable insights into different education techniques, we set out to experience different Virtual and Augmented technologies. All four of us got to try the Hololens, Vive, Ghostbusters - the Void, and even Giant (VR Film). We did this to better understand what the limitations and advantages of each technology are.

Playing Job Simulator on the HTC Vive

Insights and Concepting

From the research, we gathered valuable insights about the mix between technology and education that have started to emerge. We found that there were certain pain-points and bottlenecks in traditional learning and created a user journey to better understand the specifics of those learning drop-offs. From the user journey, we were able to concept ideas and experiences that might improve engagement in different stages of learning.

One of the many sketching and ideation sessions for Peer

Prototyping and Design

After all of the concepting and sketching, it was time to get into higher fidelity prototypes. Initially, we started using brightly colored paper to represent our 3-D virtual objects, but once we got to a point where we were comfortable with the design, we went digital with videos and demos.

Using paper to understand designs in the 3-D space

Final Product

After iterating on numerous designs, the team agreed on a final experience and product. The final deliverable for us was a presentation to the entire Moment staff that showcased Peer as an educational learning platform that mixes the digital with the physical.

Final presentation and reveal of the Peer platform

Momenteers demoing the experience

Momenteers demoing the experience

Momenteers demoing the experience

Thank you for reading! If you would like to get a more detailed explanation of our process, check out the summer 2016 intern blog: Momentary Exploration.

Goodbye from the summer 2016 intern team!