Education with Augmented Reality: AR Textbooks Released in Japan (Video)


Summary: A Tokyo publishing company has released textbooks that support Augmented Reality on smartphones. With apps downloadable for free, this textbook displays how AR might be a more practical choice than an iPad for classroom tech.

Although the idea of an iPad for every student may struggle to come to fruition for a few years, Augmented Reality textbooks are paving the way for a smooth transition.

Japanese publishing company Tokyo Shoseki is producing textbooks that support AR apps on smartphones, bringing characters to life for students to listen to.

The textbooks, part of an English course called New Horizon, are intended for adults looking to study English at a high school level again.

By using a smartphone students can interact with the textbook in a different way.

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Once the New Horizon app is downloaded, students only have to hover the camera over the correct section of the page to launch a conversation.

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This would not be a problem for Augmented Reality textbooks, where the textbook itself could stay in rotation in schools or business classes, and the app can be updated at will where necessary.

As the app is free, students would only need to delete it when they had finished, and pass the textbook along without worrying about costs.

Changing an entire curriculum, an educational system, and retraining teachers is not something that could happen overnight. Companies like Apple innovating in educational technology is a step in the right direction, but there are any number of intermediate gadgets that could help ease the transition.

Augmented Reality textbooks have been discussed as a possibility for a few years now, and now they are becoming a reality for students. Although this series is aimed at adult learners, who are usually backed by businesses to work on [snip].

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Source and Links Available At

[http://zd.net/HnWTW0]