A learning app that evolves with the learner aims to revamp traditional teaching methods using Artificial Intelligence and virtual reality
The app gives the user audio instructions to crouch, bend, or look around to explore interesting parts of the experience
Computer Science graduate Omkar Pimple’s first exposure to a broken education system came in the form of an under-equipped science lab during a visit to his hometown in Palghar district nearly two decades ago. Truth be told, this realisation could’ve come in most smaller schools in Mumbai or its suburbs, where primitive science labs are inaugurated and forgotten every year. The pitfall in most cases, Pimple believes, is the cost and labour-intensive maintenance. “This is the condition of the schools that have a science lab. Think about the ones who don’t,” the 32-year-old sighs.
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The VR headset and controllers
Pimple’s AI-assisted learning lab, Myracle.io, addresses both concerns with one innovation — a virtual AI-assisted science lab, complete with a virtual microscope, life-like 3D models, and now, an AI teacher who evolves with the student’s progress. Available on the Meta Quest headset as well as smartphones, the app transforms any four-walled room into a science lab.
The learning experience
The view from the headset shows a 3D model of an atom, while a student looks at the same experience from her smartphone
Once logged into the experience, students get to choose from a list of lessons to learn virtually. Choosing the chapter on introduction to microscopes, for instance, would turn the camera on, allowing students to pan the device across the room to find a table and a microscope placed on it. Following the instructions on the screen, or inside the headset, the student is guided to walk towards the setup, and interact with various parts using handheld controllers.
A student jumps to reach a button inside the space station
Currently, the app offers experiences that align with CBSE and SSC curriculum. What’s new, however, is the style of instruction. “It’s a well-documented fact that no two people can learn the same way. With that in mind, we’ve incorporated an AI and machine learning model that constantly logs the student’s style, pace, and level of comprehension. The course then decides how to shape itself to suit the learner better,” the founder, who is currently working from Germany to keep in touch with new developments in AI and VR, elaborates.
A live relay of the virtual experience allows the educator to keep track of the movements
Has AI finally come knocking on the doors of the teaching community, we wonder. While Pimple laughs it off, a new feature tells us otherwise. With an upcoming feature, students will be able to converse with a virtual teacher who will be standing alongside during an experience. These aren’t real humans, but AI bots that can listen, and help the child with his queries and doubts. Interestingly, the founder informs us that teachers have taken to the concept well. “An AI bot cannot realistically replace a teacher. But it can come in handy as a supplementary tool for teachers,” he notes.
Science for all
With great power comes great responsibility, they say. The founder, who spent his teenage years experimenting with programming languages and working on coding projects with his colleagues at Wadala’s Vidyalankar Institute of Technology, seems to know it well. “Focusing on any screen for a long time can put you in a hypnosis-like state where you tend to lose your sense of orientation. We have an AI-assisted environment detection system in place which uses the accelerometer and gyroscope in the smartphone or headset to detect when students are in dangerous environments,” the founder reveals. If a student is approaching a flight of stairs, an object in the room, or any obstacle that may cause hurt, the experience pauses and flashes an alert.
A team member guides a user through a virtual walkthrough of the International Space Station
At a recent workshop conducted at the Fellowship of the Physically Handicapped in Haji Ali, these features underwent a comprehensive test drive. “Individuals with physical disadvantages stand to benefit from the virtual experience greatly because they may find it difficult to physically walk up to machinery and operate it in real-life,” Pimple explains.
While the focus, in Pimple’s words, remains on offering physics, chemistry and biology lessons to rural and less privileged communities, the team is currently expanding their content library to cater to a larger audience. The future looks optimistic, “Gen Z is adopting the digital way of life at ages as young as five. The key is to make learning science a part of this experience, not something they need to take time out for. We are building storytelling, mathematics and geography modules soon.”
Omkar Pimple. Pics/Atul Kamble
LOG ON TO @myracle.io
AVAILABLE on Play Store and App Store
What is it?
Myracle.io is a virtual learning app that uses a mix of AI and VR to create a 3D, interactive, and evolving learning experience.
How it works?
The app uses an AI-based model to identify how a student learns and reshapes itself to fit their pace and style. Using VR, 3D models that students can interact with, are projected in physical spaces in real-time.
Who it affects/benefits?
Students in schools that do not house functional science labs, or struggle with maintenance, stand to benefit from the app that brings the lab experience to any room, including their homes.
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