Development of a mobile application for distance learning in physics using augmented reality technology

The development of information and communication technologies poses new challenges for schools. The textbook is no longer the only source of knowledge for students. There is a need to develop students' skills such as navigating the modern information space, solving non-standard problems, working in a team, and independently planning, analyzing and evaluating their own activities. This can be achieved with mobile devices, which are a powerful tool for modeling, interaction and observation. Thus, the idea of using mobile technologies in education is becoming increasingly relevant.

With the emergence of new computing power in mobile devices (tablets, smartphones), new prospects have opened up for their use in trade, industry, medicine, education and other fields. In education, mobile devices have high potential which, if properly integrated, can form a new effective learning model.

In this regard, the idea of the project is to develop our own mobile application for learning physics using augmented reality technology.

To define the set of requirements for the mobile application, an analysis of the market for similar commercial and non-commercial projects was carried out. They were selected based on similarity of subject (educational software) and format (virtual laboratory works). As a result, the following set of requirements was formed:

• Realistic models simulating laboratory equipment;
• Compatibility with the most popular platforms: iOS, Android;
• Correspondence of the simulated process to a real physical experiment;
• Operation of the application in augmented reality mode.

Due to the specifics of the project — conducting physical experiments — much attention was paid to developing a prototype of the experiment scene. This was implemented with technologies that make it possible to create images close to real prototypes in the virtual world. To give users freedom in performing the work, a significant part of the screen is reserved as a workspace. The Unity 3D game engine, a cross-platform environment following the WORA (write once, run anywhere) principle, was chosen as the most suitable platform for developing the virtual physics laboratory prototype. The functionality was written in C#, and the graphic models were created in Substance Painter.

The project was built, a mobile application for learning physics using augmented reality technology was developed, and the project was tested for critical runtime errors.

The user interface of the application and its adaptability to different device sizes were tested.

Guidelines for performing laboratory works were written to make working with the application comfortable and to support its introduction into the educational process.

The guidelines serve as a guide describing the application's functionality and each interface element, making it easy to start working with the program.

1. Ipalakova M.T., Daineko Ye.A., Tsoy D.D., Seitnur A.M. Copyright Certificate No. 21094 "Development of a multilingual mobile application (Kazakh, Russian, English) for distance learning in physics at higher and secondary educational institutions using augmented reality technology"