Empowering citizens through virtual and alternate reality

Abstract

2016 is the year when virtual and augmented reality takes a boost. We’ve already seen various Virtual reality (VR) headsets being released and Microsoft new Hololens is finally being realised thus paving the way for Augmented Realities (AR). In this chapter, we will explore further the use of VR in two particular domains in which governments are facing difficulties. The first topic is related to disorders and in the second domain we will consider migration. We will do this by creating new VR experiences, which present to the users alternative realities. The context we will be looking at is that of teacher training. As teaches they cannot fully comprehend what an autistic child or a child migrant experiences simply because they haven’t lived through that experience themselves. Thus we have created an innovative interfaculty collaboration at the University of Malta aimed at addressing this challenge. Previous studies into the importance of VR for teaching and learning, have described the ways in which people immersed in this alternative reality have been affected.