Interview with Giannangelo Boccuzzi, Board Member of HYPEX

With Interactive Reality (IR®, as opposed to AR and VR) we refer to an interaction model that allows the user to manipulate the essential elements of live-action content: actors, objects and real environments. Up to now, interactive teaching has in fact mainly been applied to 3D/CGI models, video formats that for example we find in video games or in graphics and images of platform courses. Our interactivity model is instead applied to film content: the user can intervene in the video flow by modifying the story, actions and outcomes.

The term Full Interactivity designates a User Experience based on multi-input interactions that exploit the features of smartphones. As in a playable film, the user can interact with the contents through the (full) totality of sensors, gestures and functions offered by a standard smartphone: in this way it is possible to intervene to alter the video flow through the touchscreen (e.g. swipe to the right or double tap), using the camera, the microphone, the gyroscope (e.g. orienting the smartphone in space), geolocation, the volume buttons, etc.. It is a immediate interaction mode which requires physical action on our device, establishing video-game mechanics and increasing the immersion coefficient.

The future of teaching is necessarily on mobile. The use of the smartphone constitutes a monopoly to which other types of device (like the laptop) can only constitute a partial alternative. First of all, the market rewards products and models with little space-consuming, "consumable" without waiting and according to the user's will: for this reason there is a "hardware crisis" among the value proposition of modern start-ups. Furthermore, mobile teaching is closer to younger people, a segment that moves important segments of the market. Finally, in new generation teaching the Micro-learning, i.e. the use of short, instant-use educational content (e.g. the classic ten-minute exercise sessions a day): imagine what the use of such content would be like if it were necessary to open and turn on the laptop every time. Market trends clearly indicate that contemporary society welcomes it with more enthusiasm products that are easily consumable according to time and space criteria.

In the field of AI we are exploring the possible educational impacts of Machine Learning and the Generation of Synthetic Contents (Synthetic Data Generation). Both are subsets of Artificial Intelligence based on the use of data as a supporting element: specifically, information such as learning outcomes (learning outcomes), The user satisfaction, the retention of information at a distance n weeks (the retention), the time spent thinking about a possible solution to a puzzle, the choice between n variables, etc. they can help outline a profile of the learner and identify the relevant course of action, creating content tailored to him. From this perspective, our interactivity model can be particularly effective because it calls the user to provide data relating to his teaching experience that is significantly deeper and more accurate than traditional digital learning models. The more we know about the user, the more in line with his profile the contents intended for him will be and the more effective the educational intervention will be. L'EdTech, the branch that studies the application of new technologies to education, has coined the term "Learning Analytics" to define analysis models data-driven, strongly oriented towards the data produced by the learner. These are not new issues in the scientific community (they have been talked about for 30 years), but their application scope is new: with Machine Learning, AI "learns" to recognize and interpret pattern of data produced by users, choosing the most effective educational paths. Synthetic Contents intervene in this process in two ways: on the one hand by allowing the generation of low-cost video content (in fact no filming or shooting is necessary), on the other by feeding Machine Learning with plausible data deriving from "Synthetic Users" , with enormous time savings and safeguarding the personal data of real users.

Any learning objective can be achieved through the creation and administration of Full Interactive content built according to our UX. However, we see excellent prospects in the area of Corporate training for businesses and in the creation of simulations for the implementation of safety protocols/procedures. The reconstruction of work environments, combined with the possibility of interacting with them, is a significant added value for distance learning with a view to providing effective levels of realism and immersion.