Spanish researchers use AR glasses and smartphones to aid student-teacher classroom communications

Gunners. They are a unique subset of students found in most any university lecture hall who steer classroom conversations with constant comments and questions directed at the professor. But what if you want a more inclusive environment that lets even timid students ask questions? One where they can communicate with their professor privately, during class, without interrupting. Well, researchers from la Universidad Carlos III of Madrid (UC3M) have built a system that lets professors receive feedback from students and know which ones have questions by using augmented reality technology.

It works by leveraging the smartphones in students' pockets and giving the professor a set of AR smart glasses. Using an app connected to the system's server, students can indicate when they do or don't understand a concept, that the professor should go more slowly, or that they know the answer to the question. Then, an icon indicating which action the student has taken will be displayed over that student's head on the smart glasses' displays. Using the system, the professor can also push predefined questions to students' phones and control presentation slides using hand gestures and a Kinect. Intrigued? Speak Spanish? A demo video of the system in español awaits you