STANDARDS

CCSS: 5.NBT.B.5

TEKS: 5.3B

Exploring New Realities

Check out how new technology is influencing the way we see reality

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Virtual Reality (VR)
Creates an entirely new, three-dimensional digital world the user experiences using a special wireless headset and controllers

Augmented Reality (AR)

Layers text, images, videos, and sound onto a real image or video, which the user typically views with a smartphone or tablet


Courtesy of SAOLA STUDIO/MUSÉUM NATIONAL D’HISTOIRE NATURELLE (AR Glasses, Magical Museum)

Magical Museums

Courtesy of SAOLA STUDIO/MUSÉUM NATIONAL D’HISTOIRE NATURELLE (AR Glasses, Magical Museum)

With AR glasses, a museum in Paris comes to life!

While wandering past animal skeletons in a museum, you might wonder what the creatures looked like when they were alive. Now several museums have developed AR apps to show you! The Smithsonian’s Skin and Bones app allows visitors to the Washington, D.C., museum to see creatures from the collection come to life. For example, visitors can watch a vampire bat take flight after they use their phones to scan its bones.

Using AR glasses, visitors to the National Museum of Natural History in Paris can see extinct animals moving about the galleries. The exhibit is called REVIVRE, which means “to live again” in French.

When you visit a museum, you may see animal skeletons. You might wonder what the creatures looked like when they were alive. Now several museums have developed AR apps to show you! The Smithsonian’s Skin and Bones app allows visitors to the Washington, D.C., museum to see creatures from the collection come to life. For example, visitors can use their phones to scan a vampire bat’s bones. Then they can watch the bat take flight.

The National Museum of Natural History in Paris gives visitors AR glasses. Through the glasses, they can see extinct animals moving around the galleries. The exhibit is called REVIVRE. It means “to live again” in French.

Burak Cingi/Redferns/Getty Images 

With a VR headset, you can watch concerts from your couch!

Cool Concerts

You stand in front of a giant stage. The crowd is packed shoulder to shoulder. Bright lights flash above you as Billie Eilish appears. To experience a concert like this, you’d normally have to buy a ticket. But this past March, anyone with an Oculus Quest VR headset was able to attend virtually!

As part of Women’s History Month, the company MetaQuest uploaded virtual versions of events with female leaders and creators. Eilish’s performance at the 2021 Governors Ball is one example. The company also regularly schedules concerts and other events that users can join from the comfort of their couch.

You stand in front of a giant stage. The crowd is packed shoulder to shoulder. Bright lights flash above you. Then Billie Eilish appears! To experience a concert like this, you’d normally have to buy a ticket. But this past March, anyone with an Oculus Quest VR headset was able to attend virtually!

March is Women’s History Month. So the company MetaQuest uploaded virtual versions of events with female leaders and creators. Eilish’s performance at the 2021 Governors Ball is one example. The company also regularly schedules concerts and other events that users can join from their couch.

Courtesy of True Course Simulations

A VR headset can help you learn to fly!

Perfect Piloting

It often takes years of training to learn how to fly a plane, and that training can be dangerous. That’s why some flight schools are turning to VR! True Course Simulations (TCS) has created virtual copies of a few popular training planes, such as the Cessna 172. Its digital training course includes 73 VR missions. Students experience the plane’s controls and movement as if they were in a real cockpit, without ever leaving the ground.

At one major flight school, practicing in VR helped students complete their first solo flight mission more than 30 percent faster than the average first solo flight time!

It often takes years of training to learn how to fly a plane. Plus, that training can be dangerous! That’s why some flight schools are turning to VR. True Course Simulations (TCS) has created virtual copies of a few popular training planes. One example is the Cessna 172. TCS has also designed a digital training course. The course includes 73 VR missions. Students experience the plane’s controls and movement as if they were in a real cockpit. But they never leave the ground!

TCS sold its program to a major flight school. Students there practiced in VR. They completed their first flight mission on their own more than 30 percent faster than most students do!

Courtesy of DribbleUp

This AR app can improve your dribbling skills!

Better Basketball

Want to improve your basketball skills? With Dribbleup, your tablet becomes the trainer! This AR app comes with a smart basketball that pairs wirelessly with your device. As you dribble, the basketball records information about its speed and location. Virtual targets appear on the screen while you train, showing you how to move the ball for the best technique.

Want to improve your basketball skills? With Dribbleup, your tablet becomes the trainer! This AR app comes with a smart basketball. It pairs wirelessly with your device. As you dribble, the basketball records information about its speed and location. Virtual targets appear on the screen while you train. They show you how to move the ball for the best technique.

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Now You Try It

It costs about $13 for one ticket to view REVIVRE. If 106 people were to buy tickets in one day, how much money would the museum make from those sales?

It costs about $13 for one ticket to view REVIVRE. If 106 people were to buy tickets in one day, how much money would the museum make from those sales?

An Oculus Quest 2 headset costs $399. If 15 Billie Eilish fans bought headsets to experience Billie Eilish’s performance virtually in March, how much money would they have spent all together?

An Oculus Quest 2 headset costs $399. If 15 Billie Eilish fans bought headsets to experience Billie Eilish’s performance virtually in March, how much money would they have spent all together?

The training course for TCS costs $495. If TCS sold its training course to 24 clients, how much money would the company make?

The training course for TCS costs $495. If TCS sold its training course to 24 clients, how much money would the company make?

It costs $115 to buy a Dribbleup smart basketball and a 1-month subscription to online training sessions. If you and 10 friends each wanted to purchase Dribbleup, how much would you spend all together in 1 month?

It costs $115 to buy a Dribbleup smart basketball and a 1-month subscription to online training sessions. If you and 10 friends each wanted to purchase Dribbleup, how much would you spend all together in 1 month?

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