What are immersive technologies?

Virtual Reality is the complete replacement of real environments with a virtual, digitized setting that includes sensory effects—visual, auditory, olfactory, haptic (tactile), and somatosensory—which give the user the sensation that this setting actually exists.

In Augmented Reality, the background environment consists of the real-world scenes around us, which serve as the foundation for the overlay of additional elements: information, images, sounds, and interactive animations designed to “enhance” the impact of the experience. Technically, this is achieved through code that, once triggered by a camera, generates the user experience.

Since 1994, thanks to the study by Paul Milgram and Fumio Kishino, the concept of Mixed Reality has emerged, in which Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality blend the real environment with virtual scenes and objects that interact with one another.

One area where such technologies have the potential to be revolutionary is undoubtedly the field of bilingual education.

First, learning an additional language can benefit greatly from immersive contexts. Immersive technologies bring that immersion to the learner without requiring them to actually immerse themselves in another culture, participate in a cultural exchange, or move abroad, for example.

A second factor is the ability to simulate a level of authenticity that is surpassed only by real-world settings. Students can be placed in any situation, location, or even time period in history.

Furthermore, these technologies are no longer the stuff of fiction.

Realvi, a 100% Brazilian EdTech company focused on the use of immersive technologies in education, offers a viable model for a bilingual program using immersive technologies for Brazilian schools through its Realvi English Immersion (realvi.com). It’s the BYOD model, or “Bring Your Own Device,” making these technologies accessible to the vast majority of schools and opening up possibilities for a true revolution in school education.

Initial results from the schools have shown a significant increase in student engagement, as well as an increase in their oral production.

The widespread adoption of immersive technologies ushers in a new chapter in the development of new approaches to bilingual education and paves the way for a new generation of programs and methodologies focused on the acquisition of additional languages, with benefits for the entire school community.

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