Towards Immersive Visualization for Large Lectures: Opportunities, Challenges, and Possible Solutions

Abstract

In this position paper, we discuss deploying immersive visualization in large lectures (IVLL). We take the position that IVLL has great potential to benefit students and that, thanks to the current advances in computer hardware and software, IVLL implementation is now possible. We argue that IVLL is best done using mixed reality (MR) headsets, which, compared to virtual reality (VR) headsets, have the advantages of allowing students to see important elements of the real world and avoiding cybersickness. We argue that immersive visualization can be beneficial at any point on the student engagement continuum. We argue that immersive visualization allows reconfiguring large lectures dynamically, partitioning the class with great flexibility in groups of students of various sizes, or accommodating 3D visualizations of monumental size. We inventory the challenges that have to be overcome to implement IVLL, and we argue that they currently have acceptable solutions, opening the door to developing a first IVLL system.