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Augmented Learning

We worked on a research project on an augmented environment developed using the technology available in the field of Augmented Reality, capable of delivering learning contents on Information and Communication Technologies and e-services to older adults without computer and digital literacy.

The learning environment is meant to provide a contribution in solving a problem of social exclusion in older adults. In recent years, technology has helped older adults in many ways to slow down the effects of ageing. Yet, at the same time, technology has also created new problems for older adults. Indeed, technology has transformed society into a strongly technological-based e-society, in which citizens without competences on the use of computer and digital tools, such as older adults, are progressively pushed to the margins, and run the risk of being socially excluded.

 

Learning is the key-concept for a possible solution to such a problem. Older adults can still learn, even in older age. Learning is beneficial to older adults in many ways. So, why not using learning for teaching older adults the basic of technology necessary to make them citizens of e-society? That is the purpose of our research: our learning environment is meant to teach older adults the basic of technology through a technological device. We designed our augmented environment specifically for older adults without computer and digital literacy: it takes into account older adults’ needs and possible disabilities; it does not require any particular psycho-physical competence to be used; it does not require any technological knowledge.

In our work we show how we designed a learning augmented environment with such features, how we developed it, and how we tested it on a group of older adults to ensure that what we have developed meets the requirements we set during the design process.

The project is fully described in the book  “Augmented Learning – The development of a learning environment in augmented reality“.

Videos

The videos below document some of the exercises developed for the Testing Area and provide a visual introduction to the immersive interaction logic of the Learning Augmented Environment.

The project as a whole

The Learning Augmented Environment was conceived as a complete learning system, not as a single AR scene and not as a simple collection of holograms. Its purpose was to create an immersive and interactive environment capable of delivering basic digital learning contents to older adults in a form that was easier to access, easier to understand, and less intimidating than many standard online learning solutions.

The project therefore combines three dimensions:

  1. a research problem, namely the relation between older adults, digital exclusion, and access to technology;
  2. a design problem, namely how to build an augmented environment that can be used by people with little or no previous technological knowledge;
  3. a development and testing problem, namely how to turn the design into a working AR prototype and verify whether it actually satisfies the requirements established during the design process.

Seen in this broader perspective, the Testing Area is only one part of the project. It is an important part, because it allows the user to learn and demonstrate the gestures required to interact with holograms, but it makes sense only inside the larger architecture of the Learning Augmented Environment.

General structure of the Learning Augmented Environment

The project was organized around a clear separation between the Augmented Environment and the Learning Modules.

The Augmented Environment is the immersive AR system itself: the overall space, the interfaces, the navigation logic, the help system, the training and interaction mechanisms, and the virtual assistant.

The Learning Modules are the educational contents that the environment is meant to deliver. In the project, these modules were designed to deal mainly with Information and Communication Technologies, web use, and a selection of public and private e-services relevant to everyday life.

This separation was important for two reasons. First, it made it possible to design the augmented environment as an environment in its own right, taking full advantage of AR rather than treating it as a simple support for pre-existing learning materials. Second, it made the system more flexible: the same environment could, in principle, host different contents and be adapted to different users or different educational settings.

Design goals

The design phase was driven by a set of requirements that defined what the environment had to be.

At the most general level, the Learning Augmented Environment had to:

  • combine the real world and the virtual world in a seamless way;
  • be interactive in real time;
  • be fully three-dimensional;
  • be immersive.

Alongside these core AR requirements, the project also introduced a second layer of design goals linked to the target users. The environment had to be usable without requiring previous technological expertise; it had to reduce anxiety and confusion; it had to provide clear guidance; and it had to make the learning experience manageable for older adults who might have different levels of confidence, education, or physical ability.

The result was a design process focused not only on technology, but also on clarity, accessibility, familiarity, and learnability.

From concept to development

Once a first draft of the design had been defined, the project moved to the development of a working prototype.

The prototype was developed as an AR application for Microsoft HoloLens, using Unity 2018 and C#. Even though it did not yet include all the final learning contents, it already implemented the main features of the Learning Augmented Environment.

At this stage, the prototype already included:

  • the core AR features needed to scan and understand the real environment around the user;
  • the identification of real surfaces that could host holograms;
  • several augmented sub-environments, including a login area, a main hall, a training area, and the general structure of one learning module;
  • the main assistance and navigation interfaces, such as help panels and toolbars;
  • a virtual assistant with synthetic voice, gestures, lip-sync, and facial expressions capable of guiding the user during the experience.

This prototype phase was decisive because it made it possible to evaluate the environment as an environment, before filling it with all the intended learning materials.

The role of the virtual assistant

A distinctive element of the project was the presence of Elektra, the virtual assistant of the Learning Augmented Environment.

Elektra was not an ornamental avatar. Her role was functional and pedagogical. She introduced users to the environment, explained interfaces and tasks, supported orientation inside the system, and helped create a more guided and less intimidating experience.

In later projects (see Elektra: l’AI nella tua stanza this line of work evolved further, but its first important implementation already appears here: the idea that an immersive environment can be more usable and more meaningful if the user is accompanied by a visible and interactive guide.

The learning contents

The learning contents of the project were meant to cover two broad areas.

The first was basic background knowledge on computers, ICTs, and the web, necessary for users who had little or no digital literacy.

The second was the use of selected e-services relevant to everyday life.

To design these contents, the project also looked at the structure of online learning platforms and MOOCs, not to copy them directly, but to identify useful principles for organizing modules, lessons, activities, and interfaces in AR. The aim was to rethink e-learning for an immersive AR setting rather than merely transfer conventional online teaching into a different medium.

Why the Testing Area matters

The Testing Area is the most visible and most immediately demonstrable part of the prototype, but it should not be confused with the whole project.

Its specific function is to teach and verify the gestures required to interact with holograms. In other words, it is both a training space and a verification space. It prepares the user for the broader immersive learning experience by making interaction itself learnable.

This is especially important in a project addressed to older adults with little or no prior exposure to AR. Before asking them to learn through augmented content, the system must first teach them how to act inside the augmented environment.

Structure of the Testing Area

The Testing Area is divided into seven modules:

  • one introductory module;
  • six additional modules, each containing one exercise.

The introductory module explains the main features of the Augmented Environment and of the Testing Area itself. From there, the user can move to the first exercise module through one of the navigation interfaces.

Each subsequent module presents a new exercise. Once the user completes one exercise, the system offers the possibility of moving on to the next one. At the end of the sequence, the user can leave the Testing Area and conclude the immersive experience.

This structure gives the Testing Area a clear pedagogical progression: the user is not dropped into a complex environment all at once, but introduced gradually to the interaction logic of AR.

How the exercises work

Each exercise follows a similar logic.

First, the user receives audio and visual explanations. Then the user is given the opportunity to practice the gesture or gestures required by that exercise. Only after this familiarization phase does the actual execution of the task begin.

The exercises are meant both to teach and to test the interaction mechanisms needed to manipulate holograms. Across the modules, the user learns the gestures required for key AR actions such as selecting holograms, moving them, rotating them, resizing them, and interacting with them in more advanced ways.

The pedagogical importance of this sequence is clear: learning interaction is treated as an explicit part of the learning process, not as an implicit or secondary assumption.

Support, safety, and user control

Another important feature of the Testing Area is that the user is never trapped in the experience.

For every exercise, the environment provides instructions on:

  • how to leave the current exercise at any time;
  • how to leave the Augmented Environment altogether;
  • how to move on to the next exercise even without completing the current one.

This is a small but essential design choice. It reduces pressure, respects the user’s uncertainty, and increases the overall usability of the environment. For older adults and technologically inexperienced users, this kind of control is not a secondary convenience: it is one of the conditions that make the experience acceptable and usable.

Development outputs

Once the Testing Area had been developed, a set of videos was recorded to document the exercises and make the immersive experience easier to understand visually.

The page currently shows examples such as:

  • selecting holograms;
  • interaction between the user’s physical body and holograms;
  • moving holograms;
  • rotating and resizing holograms.

These examples help communicate the practical dimension of the project and show that the research was not limited to abstract design principles: it produced a working prototype with clearly defined interaction tasks.

Testing and evaluation

The broader project was designed not only to build an AR learning environment, but also to test it.

The evaluation phase was meant to verify whether the developed environment actually met the requirements established during design. This included, above all:

  • usability;
  • clarity of instructions;
  • learnability of gestures;
  • accessibility for older adults;
  • overall manageability of the immersive experience.

The testing phase therefore had a double function:

  1. to test users;
  2. to test the design itself.

The point was not only to check whether users could perform a gesture, but also whether the environment was sufficiently clear, gradual, supportive, and robust for the intended audience.

What the project made possible

Even in prototype form, the project made several things possible.

It demonstrated that AR could be used not just for spectacular visualization, but for the construction of a structured learning environment. It showed that immersive interaction could be organized pedagogically, rather than treated as a purely technical feature. It also made clear that a system designed for older adults must give special importance to guidance, modularity, gradual progression, and the possibility of leaving or simplifying the experience.

Finally, by keeping the augmented environment separate from the learning contents, the project opened the way to a more general use of the system. The same overall environment could, in principle, host different contents and be adapted to different users, which later became an important idea in the broader work on augmented environments.

Why this project remains important

This project remains important because it laid the foundations for much of the later work.

It already contains:

  • the idea of the environment as a system;
  • the use of the room as the basis of an immersive experience;
  • modular structure;
  • guided interaction;
  • a first version of Elektra;
  • the link between AR, learning, and meaningful human use.

For this reason, Augmented Learning should not be seen only as an early prototype. It is the project in which the main theoretical and operational principles of the later AR/MR work were first defined in a coherent way.

Related publications

For readers interested in the broader theoretical and methodological background of the project, the following texts provide complementary perspectives:

© 2026 cisenet.com -by sergio cicconi

© 2026 cisenet.com

by sergio cicconi