Augmented reality could soon transform the way children are taught

BENGALURU: Divya S was having a tough time holding her six-year-old son’s attention to learning the names of animals. That was until she found a toy that made the process fun and interactive. It projected the images of animals in a three-dimensional form on an iPad. “Before this, the iPad was only used to watch cartoons. Now it is an interactive tool to learn,” says she.

Welcome to the world of augmented reality (AR) toys that control what happens on screen through live imagery over a technology device. Generated and enhanced via computer graphics, these toys are a combination of virtual reality in the form of digital audiovisual that essentially jump out of digital devices.

According to Karandeep Singh, business head of Hamleys India, augmented reality and technology toys are trending in the toy retail. Although parents in general are still apprehensive of them, mainly due to issues of dependency on gadgets, they are slowly shedding those
fears.



City-based augmented reality technology startup Play Shifu, which makes these games, recently devised Orboot, a smart AR globe that teaches children about countries and cultures. “Our aim is to merge play and learning through variable digital methods and innovation,” says co-founder Vivek Goyal.

Parents who buy these toys believe that there is no point in denying technology to their children as it is an inevitable sign of the changing patterns of learning. “Children today are naturally adapting to technology as they have much more access to it than previous generations. Personally, I felt the recall value of what my fiveyear-old son had learnt through an AR-based game was much higher than through simple one-dimensional learning,” says Samarth Kholkar, CEO, Mojo Hospitality.

These toys are easy to carry along, especially during travel. Says café owner Sandhya Krishnan, “My nephew travels long distances in the car and used the tab during this time. The AR toy I picked up for him works without Internet and is a great companion during drive time.”

Experts, however, call for a balance. Says Ajanta De, founder of counselling centre, InnerSight: “While the pressures of urban parenting lead to a lot of technology use, too much tech-use can cause issues like addiction, social isolation and create unreal expectations.”

Research on the use of ARbased products suggests that it can be effective for specific purposes, points out Riddhi Kandwal, counsellor at Aster Clinic. “In children, it can help gamify and aid learning, allow for an immersive experience of abstract or complex concepts. The key lies in selecting products which are suited to the age of the child, limiting the duration of screen exposure, not having it as primary means of learning and include parental supervision,” Kandwal adds.