VR Technology and Education

With an opportunity on my work, I first encounter the VR technology. 

Just a few week before, I have claimed that I believe VR technology is just a transitional product even though I have never used it before. I this this technology could at most be used on entertainment such as films and video games which are always requiring the first perspective experience. Yet, I am not the one to put the first perspective experience as the paramount quality to be achieve and somehow, I don't feel this technology could give an experience or just the perspective better than the conventional technology which film on the first perspective without the goggle. To be honest, I think the most useful part of the goggle is to cover the light and the background of a TV set only.  Anyway, I have never got the opportunity to verify my view, and now there it is. 

Other than entertainment, I have just introduced that the VR technology is highly developing on education, unless it is in my workplace. The point is to provide virtual experiences before the students go to the fields or the workplaces. For example, students of medical department could experience the clinic and surgery room before the field trip. I could agree that would be better than keeping a tight schedule with different hospitals for the visits of a large amount of students every year. Also, the technology is good to provide virtual experience for students in some places where are not easily to arrive such as construction sites or countryside without transportations and limited by regulations. Therefore, the technology could somehow contribute to these areas and compensate on limitations due to certain physical obstacles. Yet, the question is how much the technology could enhance the experience to the students ? 

To first perspective experience, I believe, nowadays, young people would have much more experience than the previous generations as these virtual experiences are part of their childhood. It is predictable that young people may have a higher standard on similar productions. In other words, the fascinating views from the current VR technology or my experience in this opportunity to the educators could face the challenge from the young people. My conclusion to this experience is that it has much to improve. Other than striving to put the camera during production stage as close as the position of normal human eyeballs, the views are not far from viewing photos. The only difference is these photos are huge and it is not flat but a surface in the internal side of a sphere. Of course, the user view follow the users' necks. This freedom is important but it is not much better than the videos filming with first perspectives that we could easily search for on Youtube. Also, resolution of photos has much to improve. I believe this could be further developed in the future that this VR technology has to be well merging with 3D technology in order to produce a better first perspective experience. I am ready to see such products widely used not only on entertainment but on education. 

Reading and Tails

With a bad mood, I write the following passages.

I went to the book fair yesterday. That was at least the 5 consecutive years I went to the book fair.

I almost forgot when was the first time I went to book fair. Well, as far as I can remember, that was in 2003 or 2004. I was studying in my second secondary school.

Book fair at the moment was a cultural activity and always gave me a feeling of cultural festival. Yet, I was not a good reader and I read less. I was always influenced by the "festive" atmosphere that calling me to buy some books. Did I really buy some books ? I cannot recall it. But, the effect was that, since then, I started reading more and I cared my language ability more as well.

I was told to read more news for improving language ability. Yet, I didn't feel this was effective on me. I was more interested in reading novels. Somehow, I selected one of the authors that would make me interested in among the sea of novels. That was a series of scientific fiction by a famous local author. If I told you the name, I am sure you know who he is.

It's probably because I was a student of science. The theme of scientific fiction really made me indulged in it. Therefore, the readings of scientific fiction did not only open up my reading journey, it also opened up the interest of supernatural world. Here, let me leave a tail about my story with supernatural world that I may talk about more on this in other passages.

Other than reading scientific fictions, I also started writing some stories. Some of them were short and  posted on my blog at that time. After so many years, I am still keeping some of my ideas about story writing in my mind. Hopefully, I could resume the writing journey one day.

For foreign languages, especially English, I was trying so hard to complete one English novel at that time. That was nearly 600 pages long. Somehow, I think I should not start from such long story. So, if you are starting your reading habit, I highly recommend you start from something just higher than you can afford. Anyway, I finished the long story. After that, I took a shorter one, and that was how I started my English reading journey.

Well, could reading novels help me improve language abilities ? I would say it should have but the improvement was not coming that obviously and rapidly. The most important thing that helped me from reading was I am not afraid of a bunch of words, and I developed a sense about words even I encountered some of the words I did not know. I would not hesitate to look up dictionaries but I did not bother to remember the words once I looked them up since I found that to know a new word is the same as to know a new friend. That made me accepted that it is normally that the first encounter does not make me recognise the friend very well, and I opened myself with the "new friend" for the next gathering. After few times, I will develop the relationship with the "new friend".

My reading and writing habits further developed in my university life in contrast with my engineering study. The first remarkable thing I did in university was to take an Italian course. That was the third language I learnt. Overall, I had just studied Italian for one year. Surely, I did not learn it very well, but the experience opened me up to another dimension. First, English is actually the most easiest language in the world; second, the world is big to be explored, I should not stay in my comfort zone. Here is another tail I should leave for other passages. Anyway, that was how I started my subsequent journeys in the UK, China, Singapore and so many other places.

Well, Singapore was the place I learnt most. I developed a habit to visit book stores in Singapore. With a good salary in Singapore, I bought books always. It also made me difficult when I moved back to Hong Kong. Furthermore, I learnt Spanish in Singapore and that was how I got the mind to study in Spain. Well, Singapore was probably the place where I opened up the sense of justice as well, and that causes the third tail I should leave for other passages.

And then ? and then I got changes. I worked in two book stores. I seldom buy books now. Those books I wish to read are hard to find in commercial book stores. I find them in libraries. Oh, so many tails to leave here.

Yesterday, I went to book fair again. After all these years, I could somehow find the connections with different booths selling different levels and categories of books. I would still believe reading is the first useful thing in a life but the outcome is not that obvious and not rapid, just ... just it is effective on somehow, somewhere and somedays.

Snooker and Me

A sudden typhoon made me stayed at home with snooker for a day. 

I almost forgot how long I have not played snooker, and I forgot when I knew snooker. The earliest memory with snooker that I could recall is the moment in a camp where I played snooker, that was pool actually, with my classmates in F.3, or F.2, I can't really remember. But I am sure that was in a camp in somewhere in Hong Kong. 

I was the only one who can play snooker among that group of classmates, so I was the one to give a little guidance to my friends. Having said that, I think I knew snooker even earlier than this memory, if not, I should be able to give any guidance. 

And then, I kept playing snooker from time to time. My skill did not have any improvement because I was all the way playing it without a tutor. All learnings were by watching the broadcasting of snooker game on Cable TV. 

I like the atmosphere in snooker room that depicted on TV, however, the real atmosphere was not really pleasant to me. Until the time in university, I accommodated in a student hall where had a snooker room. The room was quiet with good equipments and no smell. I went to play and practice it at least once a week. 

Because of snooker, I made a friend who was a student of Architecture. We joined up a snooker training programme together under the Hong Kong snooker association in a summer. Since then, I kept playing snooker with this friend. Even in the time I worked in Singapore, this friend still came over to visit my place, and we also played a game in Singapore. 

After that, my life got a big change, and I guess that was the moment I stopped playing snooker. 

Today, my hands are really feeling itchy to take up a cue.