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III guided the development of new technology, to help OPA win at the Horizon Interactive Awards
Date: 2016/06/04
AR/VR based simulated learning environments are now the mainstream in education. The use of motion sensing technology is attracting a lot of attention worldwide. Taiwanese businesses have been working on visionary innovations in interactive experiences and services for several years. Observing this trend, the Innovative Learning Center of the Digital Education Institute (DEI) is devoting itself to supporting innovations in the development of learning products. The introduction of the Leap Motion (Note 1) hand tracking technology led to the success of Over Paradigm (OPA) Technology in creating the Chemist's Virtual Lab-3D and winning a Gold Award under the mobile app category at the annual Horizon Interactive Awards (Note 2). International recognition such as this award helps increase the visibility of Taiwan's digital content technology in the global market.
Unlike other hand gesture recognition techniques, Leap Motion detects hand gestures with infrared sensors to capture all details of the fingers and the palms. The user's gestures are constantly tracked and calculated to contribute to an immersive learning or simulated training environment. The technology will simulate the effect of operating objects and machines. Chemist's Virtual Lab-3D, a product developed by Over Paradigm Technology with the assistance of the DEI, is an interactive learning model developed with the application of the Leap Motion technology.
Chemist's Virtual Lab-3D relies on a hand tracking technology and sensors to simulate experiments and an interactive interface. The app allows the user to conduct chemical experiments in a safe environment through natural interactions between man and machine. It is worth noting that instead of the traditional Q&A oriented learning process, users will receive instructions at the beginning of each step so that they can focus on grasping the instruments in front of them, so that they can complete the learning task and master the necessary skills.
According to Zhao-Hong Liao, Director of the III DEI's Innovative Learning Center, Digi-Capital's report shows that the AR/VR market will be worth USD150 billion by 2020. According to Director Liao's observations, the application market is still dominated by entertainment and games and shows a lack of powerful training apps. The combination of AR/VR technology and the Leap Motion sensors has the potential of creating science education apps that represent a promising niche market for Taiwanese businesses. Having won an internationally recognized award, OPA's interactive learning simulation is another proof of the strength of Taiwan's digital learning industry. Meanwhile, the product also sets an excellent roadmap for Taiwan in establishing its presence in the global AR/VR industry.
*Note 1: Leap Motion was founded in California in 2010 when it received a USD1.3 million investment. Subsequently, it secured USD12.75 million in Series A funding in 2012 and USD30.00 million in Series B funding in 2013. Leap Motion is one of the most impressive hand tracking products. The detection modules have been marketed as part of certain ASUS and HP laptop computers. Leap Motion presently has more than 200,000 developers around the world.
*Note 2: The Horizon Interactive Award is in its 14th year. It focuses on rating designs of websites, videos, Internet advertising, print media, and mobile apps. The Horizon Interactive Award receives applications from more than fifty states of the United States and more than forty countries around the world. It is a well known global multimedia and interactive videos award.
Caption: The III DEI provides the Leap Motion hand tracking technology to help Over Paradigm Technology develop Chemist's Virtual Lab-3D.
Caption: Chemist's Virtual Lab-3D, a product developed by Over Paradigm Technology with the assistance of the DEI, wins Gold under the mobile app category at the 2015 Horizon Interactive Awards.
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