Some Considerations for Designing and Supporting XR Experiences in Classroom Settings

Until recently, academic computing support for Extended Reality (XR) systems and applications was confined to specialized facilities and dedicated computer labs. The advent of affordable untethered consumer XR devices presents new opportunities, choices, and challenges for XR support in the curriculum. With untethered devices, ordinary classrooms or gathering spaces can become sites for XR-enabled activities. The considerations outlined in this paper stem from experiences supporting pilot projects in different disciplines and across different types of XR environments such as stand-alone applications and online social-collaborative platforms. The topics of this paper include: 1) describing some beneficial uses and roles for XR as applied to teaching and learning; 2) considering service models for XR device deployment in courses; 3) noting specific infrastructure concerns, especially in terms of network connectivity and physical space management; 4) outlining policy development needs around security, privacy, accessibility, health, and safety for XR educational deployments.


INTRODUCTION
The XR product landscape has been reshaped by the availability of stand-alone 3D viewing systems that do not require physical connections to either a personal computer or external motion-tracking equipment.Examples of these untethered products can be found across several categories including XR-capable headsets, glasses, smartphones, tablets, and flat-screen holographic displays.Meanwhile, affordable, portable devices and systems for capturing 3D objects and scenes make content generation relatively quick and easy.Photogrammetry workflows, for instance, allow lightweight devices such as digital cameras and even smartphones to be used for scanning and capturing scenes for 3D renderings to be used in either augmented or immersive virtual reality experiences.Together, these two developments allow for new kinds of educational activities across a wide spectrum of academic disciplines.Indeed, XR as an educational technology shows great promise.However, XR in the classroom raises implementation, support, policy, and program considerations that need to be addressed before widespread adoption can occur.Examining current features of portable XR equipment, this paper looks from an educational technology perspective at the challenges around privacy, accessibility, infrastructure, content management as well as health and safety.

XR in Teaching & Learning
XR comes in many flavors.XR experiences fall along a continuum bracketed at one end by mediated real-world experiences and at the other by total immersive virtual experience.XR deployments in academic settings show a varied mix from augmented reality (i.e., where the virtual augments the real) to augmented virtuality (i.e., where the real augments the virtual).The former category includes the many role-play games, surreal and fantasy realms but also socially impactful explorations of perspective-taking and empathy experiences [1].Along these intersecting AR and VR dimensions, we also find teachers and students starting to use online collaborative spaces where users can meet together in either fully immersive virtual reality, augmented reality, or video-conferencing.For teaching and learning, commercially produced content and visualization tools are already two main areas of deployment for XR.Pre-produced educational content ranges widely across role play, virtual geographical tours, science visualizations, and historical fantasy.XR visualization tools extend data visualization capabilities by making them immersively explorable.These products and tools offer off-the-shelf virtual experiences of spaces that cannot be visited in real life such as the bonds in a protein molecule or places that no longer exist such as re-creations of archeological sites.Meanwhile, custom local XR development on campuses can be found in disciplines that are already heavily oriented toward visualization.In Architecture, for example, interactive 3D visualization of building designs can benefit both the research and instructional sides.
At UC Berkeley, Prof. Luisa Caldas and her team are using XR to reinvent architectural design processes by developing virtual reality tools and simulation approaches for immersive sketching, structural energy analysis, and natural light optimizations [2].Not surprisingly, as this cutting-edge research transforms the practice of architecture, it soon finds its way into the curriculum.As immersive and augmented realities become important modalities for architectural visualization, it makes sense that instructors want to introduce their students to these technologies in the classroom.Similarly, XR technologies are making their way from research to the classroom in the study of antiquity.Egyptologist Prof. Rita Lucarelli and her colleagues use 3D modeling technologies to understand the spatiality and materiality of inscriptions from ancient Egyptian texts as found on sarcophagi and other objects uncovered in excavated funerary contexts [3].Using a combination of 3D technologies and geographic information systems, they have created interactive models that can be navigated through space and time to explore the evolution of burial sites.Traditionally, students have had only limited experience with ancient sites and artifacts, usually in 2D photographic printed reproductions.The "Return to the Tomb" project suggests new ways to overcome such limitations through virtual reality, allowing students to experience archeology holistically.
Donning VR headsets in the classroom, students can visit the digitized ancient site while navigating through virtual space and time to explore its evolution.Students navigate from a surfacelevel Egyptian cemetery landscape down into a tomb to view the sarcophagus lid, on which it is possible to point to the text and see the annotations of the original hieroglyphs.Prof. Lucarelli's students not only use class time for virtual reality field trips but also for learning some of the basic digital techniques and technologies involved, such as photogrammetry, which is a key enabler for the new digital study of artifacts.

SERVICE MODELS 2.1 Deployment Options
For the deployment of XR content in instructional settings, course activities can be categorized from a service perspective into one of several approaches: 1) XR-enabled labs, where existing computer labs are re-purposed for this new technology; 2) XR labs at room scale, which offer large open spaces with position sensors, boundary layouts, and equipment support for full-body activity; and 3) XR portable equipment deployable inside a normal classroom.Across these three settings, the XR solutions involve a trade-off between ease of management and ease of use.
Previously, it was customary to view XR as an activity to be confined to a specialized facility or computer lab.Specialized XR rooms at scale can offer the fullest range of motion and degrees of freedom in exploring virtual space, but the participation level drops down to one or two individuals at a time even while the support requirements increase.The traditional computer lab when used for XR can make class management convenient by allowing for wired network connections, higher-end hardware, and automated software deployment.For instructors, the downside of the traditional lab approach includes not only the inconveniences around scheduling and moving to a separate location but also the loss of flexibility in arranging the room.Traditional computer labs where users are seated close together in rows don't always lend themselves well to the kind of body movements typical of someone wearing a headset and navigating about with hand controllers.In a regular classroom, the furniture can be reorganized or moved aside temporarily to accommodate different styles and modes of activity, and then reset again in a return to traditional face-to-face interaction.Wireless communication technologies are the enablers for untethered, portable XR activities teaching and learning activities in classrooms.The good news is that, for many years, the scope of wireless systems on campuses has already extended to activities that occur inside lecture halls, classrooms, and informal study areas.Instructors and students have become accustomed to relying upon wireless connections while they coordinate their instructional activities.The bad news is that the very success of classroom wireless as an enabler has also led increasing to congestion and performance problems, as more and more people and activities rely upon this convenient mode to connect [4].Worse still, the invisibility inherent in wireless communication technologies tends to obscure the status, capacity, and coverage options.In particular, classroom wireless connectivity problems often relate to local environmental features and usage patterns characterized by the transience, intensity, and variety of connections to be found across the roaming connection behaviors of students and instructors.Throughout the day, formal learning spaces become temporary assembly points for high concentrations of people carrying around devices that rely on through-the-air connections.

XR USAGE CONCERNS
For XR activities in traditional classrooms, some surprising ergonomic design factors arise.The ad hoc re-arrangement of people, equipment, and furniture can be fraught with hazards.In a computer lab or dedicated XR facility, the design typically includes constraints such as headset tethers, stationary carrells, warning tracks, padding, and even stanchions to prevent users from colliding with each other or with surfaces.Physical safety hazards become an important concern in a regular classroom.Immersive XR headsets present the most obvious risks, but AR device-wearing users risk falling or bumping into obstacles.For setting up XR activities on the fly in a traditional classroom, the size and furniture arrangement might allow for separation between seated users and perhaps a dedicated space for stand-up XR experiences or 3D capture activities.In selecting and arranging furniture, consideration needs to be given to these practical matters.Moreover, it is crucial to create aisles and pathways for the instructor and support staff to be able to maneuver throughout the room, especially when fully immersive headsets are deployed, as the users are both vulnerable and usually in need of some over-the-shoulder help while focused on the task.
Another health and safety issue for XR technologies is visually induced motion sickness.While more expensive XR devices might alleviate the problem somewhat, the actual causes are complicated and not solved by simply boosting display resolution [5].Moreover, it is still the case that very few people can wear an XR headset for an extended period without significant fatigue and discomfort.Even just the act of putting on a headset also has attendant risks.
There are hygiene and skin allergy concerns around sharing devices.Practices such as using disposable masks or pads, ultra-violet light baths, and specialized cleansers have emerged since the pandemic, but their efficacy has yet to be established [6].Finally, radio frequency radiation and other emissions risks coming from these devices need more research, especially as untethered devices become widely used.There has not been enough discussion about the potential risks of having these increasingly powerful electronic devices and their high throughput wireless transmitters strapped to our heads.

Privacy & Identity Management
At many institutions, the initial enthusiasm about deploying XR wears off quickly due to the real-world experience of having to manage user access, security, and privacy within these devices and platforms.Most of the affordable XR technologies are oriented more toward the home consumer market.So far, it is rare to find an XR manufacturer or platform vendor with any kind of enterprise integration and deployment capabilities.Campus support staff are then left with no easy options for reconciling these new XR products with existing campus identity, security, and privacy infrastructure and policies.Even the end-user license agreements typically lack the basic protections required in institutional settings, especially for making sure students can opt out of data collection.Basic protections about user activity data are well-established requirements for web-based online instructional platforms such as learning management system tools but are almost non-existent so far in XR platforms.Moreover, the extent of potential privacy intrusion in XR is difficult to overstate, given the array of cameras, microphones, and various sensors commonly built into these devices [7].

Accessibility
Support for accessibility in XR is currently a mixed bag.The new medium presents some enormous challenges but also some potentially wonderful solutions for differently-abled users.Most immediately, XR in instruction today raises many of the same accessibility issues as did streaming media (e.g., video, podcasts) when those technologies appeared on the scene -but with many more issues as well, especially around how XR controller interfaces can be made more adaptable for different locomotion capabilities.Important questions remain to be answered about how to provide equivalent, alternative, or accessible experiences for users who have, for instance, severe visual or auditory impairments.
Given the importance of motion and physical control in XR, there arise many equally crucial questions about accommodating various haptic limitations that users may have.The technology selection and space layout are topics where the old can inform the new.Academic libraries and computer facilities generally share a strong tradition of providing access to patrons with disabilities.Assistive technology, adjustable furniture, and careful attention to paths of travel, we're reminded, continue to be important with XR deployments.The additional needs for accommodations around specialized controllers, sensors, cabling, etc. are part of a newer area of focus across active and participatory learning spaces research, where the goals of independence and accommodation need careful balancing and enlightened design [8].
Finally, XR accessibility issues extend well beyond meeting the needs of staff and students whose disabilities are officially recognized and covered by institutional policies and legal frameworks.One obvious example is prescription eyewear.Currently, vision impairments that can be addressed by wearing eyeglasses do not meet the statutory "disability" definitions [9].Nevertheless, a large portion of the population relies on glasses.While research continues into seeking means to provide adaptive correction digitally, XR device makers usually take one of two approaches: 1) design the device with a form factor to fit over any user's glasses or 2) opt for accommodating the user's specific correction needs by adding prescription lenses either at manufacture or as inserts [10].The latter approach is not feasible in most instructional settings.As a result, part of the support model for classroom-based XR must include training and support to help users adjust the device properly for a comfortable fit with their eyewear, a time-consuming process involving special spacer inserts and strap adjustments.
It's worth noting that a workaround to some of the concerns mentioned above (i.e., motion-induced nausea, device radiation, eyeglasses) and accessibility in general is to revert to using a 2D version of the XR experience.Reverting to two-dimensional image on a regular PC monitor is not a panacea but can sometimes obviate ergonomic issues while also allowing for the use of keyboard navigation and common personal computer-based accessibility software.

CONCLUSION
This paper has been intended mainly as an overview of issues and opportunities that academic computing groups need to consider in defining a strategy for supporting mobile XR and associated services for use in classrooms.For XR deployments led by campus IT computing, museums, or libraries, it becomes important to understand and address the risks that attend XR technologies.To do so well requires a structured process for thinking about how to design spaces and services to coordinate with instructional activities.Envisioning any future where XR technologies are a more regular part of classroom activities, we must begin asking questions now about security, privacy, accessibility as well as health and safety.To date, the combination of rapid innovation and emerging standards within the consumer marketplace stand out as key indicators that XR might become part of the mainstream portfolio of academic IT service portfolios in teaching and learning.If so, the service design will need to deal with the crucial challenges touched on in this paper.Finding solutions and establishing best practices in these areas will require more than ingenuity from the academic technology side.The marketplace needs also to mature to the point where vendors offer enterprise solutions that integrate with and adhere to existing IT best practices.To live up to exciting possibilities and newly enabled activities, XR services on campus will need to focus on delivering solutions that are cross-cutting, flexible, and policy-compliant.

Figure 1 :
Figure 1: Architecture students during a design review in virtual reality.

Figure 2 :
Figure 2: Students' avatars meet up in Spatial.io at the start of class.

2. 2
Logistical & Infrastructure NeedsChallenges in deploying XR devices in regular classrooms arise immediately in the area of logistics.Whether academic IT support staff are delivering the devices to the classroom or students and instructors have them checked out for the term, someone needs to deal with the ongoing maintenance issues.Setting up XR equipment can be time-consuming, and maintaining it requires technical expertise.Devices may need regular updates, troubleshooting, and repairs.Coordinating schedules and ensuring that devices are charged in time for class use is especially problematic.3D capture activities also require extra logistical planning.Although lightweight capture equipment can be as simple as a digital camera, accessories such as tripods, turntables, and light stands are commonly used as well.