Link for free download : Lesson Plan: Primary/Elementary (.ppt)
Lesson Plan: Middle/Key Stage 3-4 ( .ppt )
Link for free download :
Labelling Activity Sheet: (A3 .doc | A3 .pdf | A4 .doc | A4 .pdf)
Use these resources to build your own digestive system model and learn by doing.
Link for free download : Lesson Plan: Primary/Elementary (Digestive System Model .ppt)
Use our challenge questions to test your kids' knowledge.
These cards are aimed at the primary/elementary age group.
Link for free download : Challenge Qs: Primary/Elementary ( .doc | .pdf)
Answers can be found on our primary/elementary quiz here:
Quiz: Primary/Elementary ( .ppt )
Use our challenge questions to test your kids knowledge.
These cards are aimed at the middle/key stage 3-4 age group.
Link for free download :
Challenge Qs: Middle/Key Stage 3-4 ( .doc | .pdf )
Answers can be found on our middle/key stage 3-4 quiz here:
Quiz: Middle/Key Stage 3-4 (.ppt )
Do you know the time it takes for food to move through the digestive system? Use our food transit times sheet to test your kids.
Link for free download : Transit Time Worksheet: ( .doc | .pdf)
Test your kids' memory with our printable memory game.
Link for free download : Memory Game: ( .doc | .pdf )
Fancy a game of bingo? Why not make it educational with our bingo activity call cards and tables.
Link for free download:
Bingo Activity: ( call-cards .doc | call-cards .pdf | Tables .doc | Tables .pdf )
With our curious journey sheet…..see what your kids know, wonder and have learned about the digestive system.
In light of everything, we wanted to make our pledge to the Curiscope community and to also open up a discussion about how companies like ours can not only serve you better with resources but also seek to amplify your concerns and to help develop solutions to the most critical problems you’re experiencing.
Curiscope, of course, won’t be the complete solution. But we hope that by compiling resources, acting compassionately and talking to all of you every day that we can help make the next few months more manageable.
-Ed
Last Updated: 25th March 2020. We will update this resource as frequently as we can.
We’ve always had a product that you can use for at-home learning and that won’t change. Whilst we anticipate that some delivery routes may be slower and our fulfilment capacity may be lower at times, we are still shipping Virtuali-Tees and Multiverse Posters via Amazon and our website.
Our supply chains may be impacted in the mid to long term but right now we have sufficient stock in our warehouse to last us months and we’re looking at backup production solutions.
Note: in recent days (15th March 2020) a number of countries have announced plans to close their borders or have already done so. This does not apply to freight shipments which are still ongoing globally, although some routes may be slower. Post and packages are a bad transmission vector for Coronavirus, as detailed on the WHO FAQ here.
We’ve created a lesson that you can access via :
a printout (https://www.curiscope.com/pages/augmented-reality-classroom-demo-free) or
via scanning our website (https://www.curiscope.com/vt).
This will give you access to the digestive system mode of the Virtuali-Tee app including a 360 experience inside the intestinal tract.
Anybody can access this without cost just by downloading the free Virtuali-Tee app for IOS or Android.
We’ve enabled all content in the app to be unlocked via an in app purchase. This will mean you can experience all the content in Virtuali-Tee without a t-shirt. We recognise that t-shirts for every student aren’t realistic in all circumstances and so we are making all content available via the printout and an in app purchase.
If the in app purchase is too much, the digestive system content remains free.
We have a suite of lesson plans that we have made available. These cover the US and UK curriculums across elementary/primary and high school/secondary levels with quizzes, worksheets and presentations.
We have arts/crafts like how to create a digestive system model, worksheets on measuring your heart rate, quizzes, challenge questions and digestive system bingo!
Resources on Digestive System
Resources on Skeletal System
Resources on Circulatory System
You do not need our products to utilise these and they are free to access regardless of whether you have purchased from Curiscope or not. You are also free to copy, download and adapt them as you see fit.
We’re going to be accelerating plans to work on new digital AR products that are as accessible and as scalable as we can make them. More on these plans to follow but if you’d like to input on what you’d like us to develop, start up a conversation in our community group.
In order to make using our products as easy as possible in remote settings, we’re going to be starting a video series of how-tos, lessons and webinars starting from March 18th. We’d also love to involve community members in this and would love to be sharing some of your stories on how you’re handling teaching during the outbreak. If you’re interested, please drop us a message in the community group.
We want you to know that we’re a resource for anything and everything, even when it does not involve Curiscope. Our role as a community member is far broader than that and we’re happy to do our bit to help resolve anxieties, amplify messages or search out resources to make your lives easier.
You can reach us via twitter on the following handles:
@curiscope
@ed_barton
We have a Curiscope community group set up here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/curiscopecommunity/
And you can contact us via email here:
support@curiscope.com
We realise Curiscope isn’t going to cover the whole curriculum and we also realise that there’s a resource overload going online. Because of this we want to point you in the right direction. Most of you will have never taught remotely and some of you (parents) may have never taught at all!
So firstly, be kind to yourselves! It’s a tough time, it’s not easy. We hope the below resources serve as a good starting point. We've tried to only pick the best.
It is certainly of secondary importance to our health but all small businesses are going to be suffering right now. We know, we are one! (there’s only 4 of us)
In most of the world these are the lifeblood of the economy and employ a huge percentage of the workforce. In the US it’s close to 50%, in the UK it’s close to 66%. So at a moment like this, think about how you can help them and keep their livelihoods going. If we do this and if we think of others, we’re all going to collectively benefit.
]]>The first major change is swapping out the tracking engine. This should mean performance is far less jittery and more stable. It should work very similarly to before but if you have anything here you’d like us to improve, let us know.
This change was necessary in order to satisfy new Play Store requirements from Google and continued selfie camera functionality, which I know for a lot of you is one of the key use cases of the product. It’s personally my most used feature. We’re potentially the only app or at least one of a handful of AR apps that uses the selfie camera in this way and in my opinion it’s essential to the product so we’ve done a lot of work to make sure we continue to support this long into the future.
The second major change you’ll notice is that we’ve removed the VR mode. This wasn’t a particularly easy decision for us but was a decision we had to make due to the fast pace of technological change resulting in some of the VR code no longer being actively supported by hardware manufacturers and a relatively low number of users regularly using this feature.
Cumulatively these changes are going to provide a much stronger, future-compatible base on which we can develop on top of. One that can move with advancements in AR technology. We’re looking forward to getting back to adding exciting new features over the coming months.
Suffice to say, at the end of a long technical explanation, we’ve got some cool features in the pipeline to make the app a whole load better.
If you’d like to help us decide on our next features, we’d encourage you to join our new Curiscope community on Facebook.
-Ed
]]>Brighton, UK: 19th February 2020. Curiscope announces the launch of their next product, Curiscope Multiverse, in partnership with Future Tech Labs and San Shepherd, one of the creators of Star Chart, the astronomy app downloaded by over 40 million people worldwide.
Curiscope Multiverse will retail as packs for £39.99 / $49.95 and as individual posters for £24.99 / $34.95. Each poster covers a different Space topic, touching on the individual planets, the Solar System and the Earth. At launch there are 4 different designs with more to follow in the next couple of months. The posters pair with a free accompanying app that works on recent IOS & Android phones.
When viewed through the app, the wonders of the Solar System come into your classrooms and homes through augmented reality and are brought to life with animations, facts and cross-sections that let you explore them in detail.
With the product, Curiscope are also announcing their initiative to become a net positive company. For every poster sold, they’ll be planting a tree. They have announced this initiative in partnership with Bristol based company, Offset Earth.
Curiscope are well known as one of the leaders in Augmented Reality, creating the award-winning Virtuali-Tee that has now been sold in over 100 countries. This series of posters represents their next major product launch and their continued vision to bring learning to life through their AR apps and products.
Future Tech Labs has worked across AR and VR, recently partnering with Oculus and National Geographic on new releases. Future Tech Labs was founded by San Shepherd who, as part of Escapist Games, created one of the top immersive apps of all time with over 40m downloads for Star Chart and over 500k installs for their AR/VR specific apps.
Ed Barton, Co-Founder and CEO of Curiscope said “we’ve known San for about 4 years now and have followed his success with Star Chart. We’ve been really keen to create a new product around a new topic and to bring that to life. When we started thinking about Space, San was the natural partner.”
San Shepherd, Co-Founder and CEO of Future Tech Labs said "The quote, ‘Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I may remember. Involve me and I learn.’ has never been more true than today. Technology can now be used to make education immersive, fun, and social. Putting people at the heart, involving them, and letting them learn through playful osmosis.
As a result, Curiscope is the perfect long-term partner for us. With the success of the brilliant Virtuali-Tee, Ed has cemented Curiscope as a leader in providing innovative solutions for digital learning. We are pleased to have a partner of this calibre bring our vision of immersive education to a global audience and we’ll be working with one another on future posters, products and app updates.”
For more information, our press kit is available at this link.
Pre-orders will be available on our website from the 17th February 2020. Shipping begins on the 24th.
The key facts!
With this product we’ve really tried to create something that is truly integrated - something with hidden superpowers that blends perfectly into the environment. It was really important to us that we created a product that would look great without the AR features but that would be transformed when you view it through the app.
Personally, I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved. I think the designs are beautiful and with a super high quality print, these are going to look fantastic in the classroom but also in the home.
I look forward to seeing you all start using them.
-Ed, San & The Curiscope Team
p.s. for updates before anywhere else, make sure you're following us on our newsletter or over on social media. We've just started a new Facebook group!
]]>Our first BETT was our first opportunity to test the reception to the original Virtuali-Tee prototype. At this point the t-shirt was white and I think had the design on upside down because of a misunderstanding about the iron-on pattern instructions. We spent the four days running around the show floor speaking to everybody and anybody we could get in front of and many of you ended up becoming Kickstarter backers and friends.
So BETT 2020 (come and find me if you’re here) is as good a time as any to drop our biggest hint as to what is coming from us next.
We’ve made a habit of working with great partners over the years. These have included Amazon Studios, Discovery and Dorling Kindersley as well as sector experts like Oceans Research.
And when we surveyed you all in 2019 there was one subject you clearly wanted us to cover next, Space. There’s not an area of Science I’m more fascinated by than Space, so this was music to my ears. See below for a pic of the Aurora Borealis taken when I had the privilege of travelling to Northern Norway.
It also happens to be a subject area where we have the perfect partner. This partner is San Shepherd and his company, Future Tech Labs.
I’ve known San since one of the first Oculus Connect events and we’ve stayed in touch since. San is perhaps best known for creating Star Chart, one of the first astronomy apps that visualised the universe around us on our smartphones. Star Chart has been downloaded over 40m times and has been routinely featured by Apple and Google on their platforms. Common Sense Media gave it 5 stars.
San is now working on his next endeavour, Multiverse, a social VR planetarium that will evolve over time into a full platform. And given this, we decided to make our next product a Curiscope Multiverse collaboration.
If you’re at BETT this week, we can give you a sneak peek. But if you’re not, here are a few teaser pics. More will follow next week and we’ll also be announcing the details of our launch week at one of the world’s most loved science institutions.
-Ed
]]>Progress won’t happen by making people feel guilty about their actions. But we do get somewhere by striving to do better ourselves, by acting differently and by inspiring change.
We hope that our transparency and commitment to desire to do better can strive to help make capitalism a more positive force than it is right now.
]]>However, the other side of the ‘for good’ equation is consumerism. For our products to have their desired impact, they need to be manufactured, purchased and used. The vast majority of us are quite disconnected from the chain that gets a product to us in a couple of hours via Amazon 'Prime Now' much in the same way that the majority of people, in the Western world at least, are disconnected from how food reaches us. Both chains are long and complex.
Our products are manufactured across the globe. Some of our t-shirts are printed and packaged in the UK but they’re sourced from cotton in Bangladesh. Some of our t-shirts are printed, packaged and sourced from China. Both scenarios involve a global supply chain that isn’t negligible in its impact. To get them to customers we fly or sea freight goods to the UK and the US where they then go onto the end customer. In the US this often involves a further, final flight. This is what it takes to get a product to a customer at an affordable price, which is another important balancing act for us when a major customer group is teachers, who themselves are trying to do good in a world that doesn’t reward them financially nearly enough.
All of this is to say that a small business like ours, creating products for good, has an impact on the world around us and must juggle these various impacts simultaneously making our own judgements as to what is appropriate.
So I believe it is always incumbent on us to strive to do better. Humans collectively are impacting the planet in vastly complex ways that are close to impossible to understand entirely [1]. Often this can feel paralysing, rendering us actionless in the belief that we are unable to make an impact. One family acting alone to reduce their footprint is not going to halt the actions of 7+ billion people. One company acting alone to reduce its footprint will not halt the actions of millions of companies.
There is no single cause, nor is there one single solution to the environment. There are many. But collective steps in the right direction will consistently create tipping points.
So, as we start 2020, I wanted to map out what we’re going to be doing differently. We’re not going to be perfect immediately, we’re probably not going to be perfect ever but we don’t want to let perfect be the enemy of progress, to butcher an aphorism.
Progress won’t happen by making people feel guilty about their actions. But we do get somewhere by striving to do better ourselves, by acting differently and by inspiring change.
We hope that our transparency and commitment to desire to do better can strive to help make capitalism a more positive force than it is right now. And we’d welcome any comments, critiques or suggestions at support@curiscope.com.
-Ed
Links/footnotes
Reading, UK, 15th January 2020. A-life are excited to announce a new, highly engaging station as part of our Healthy Workshops - the Virtuali-Tee. In this new activity, children will be amazed as they dive into the human body (quite literally!) and see through a t-shirt combined with AR technology how different systems in the body work.
The two companies will be showcasing this partnership on A-Life’s stand EDC61 at the BETT education show from 22nd-25th January at London Excel.
Peter Adams, CEO of A-life said, “As soon as we saw the interactive Curiscope t-shirt we knew it would be perfect as part of our Healthy Workshop. And we were right – the children and staff are loving it! It brings the human body to life in a way that they will not have experienced before. The children really enjoy exploring the different callouts and seeing the systems working. The teachers love how engaged the children are and the way it brings learning to life.”
Having taught over 1 million children about keeping fit and healthy, the A-life team are confident about what engages children and gets their attention.
Curiscope’s Virtuali-Tee is now available in over 10 languages and is used as part of the teaching in thousands of schools worldwide. The app and t-shirt pair to become the only way for children to learn about the human body...on a human body. The app comes with a voiceover guide, lets you explore the different systems and has 3 different 360-degree experiences inside the lungs, intestines and the bloodstream.
Ed Barton, CEO of Curiscope said, “Greater contextual understanding of the human body and therefore our own fitness and health was one of the core reasons behind us creating the Virtuali-Tee. For too many what goes on beneath our skin is too abstract and this leaves us disconnected when it comes to looking after ourselves. We’re really excited to see an organisation like A-Life taking it on as a key component of their fantastic workshops.”
Curiscope is one of the world leaders in immersive learning, creating Great White Sharks, one of the most viewed VR experiences of all time. Their award winning AR products have been sold in over 100 countries and retail on Amazon, through their website and in The Science Museum.
About A-life
A-life’s range of school workshops, bring to life the health elements of the RHE 2020, PSHE, Science and PE curriculum. We are passionate about education that makes an impact and have designed each of our workshops to help children, teachers and families to really understand and absorb the vital messages of how to keep our bodies and minds healthy.
Over 1 million children have now experienced A-life's fun, memorable and engaging workshops. Click here to see why so many children from Early Years through to Year 6 can actively engage with our vast range of multi-sensory resources so well. It brings the curriculum to life for your pupils in a way that wouldn't be possible in the classroom.
Click the links below to see more information on each of the workshops:
Get Healthy, Get Active, GetCALM, Get A-life.
About Curiscope
Curiscope, the company behind one of the most watched virtual reality experiences of all time (now watched by 30 million), was launched in 2016 by co-founders Ed Barton and Ben Kidd with a mission to bring learning to life through immersive technology. By using apps and physical products, the Brighton, UK based startup builds the impossible into everyday surroundings, transforming classrooms and homes into engaging, purpose-led and memorable moments that fuel curiosity.
For more information, please visit www.a-life.co.uk and www.curiscope.co.uk
Since founding the company we’ve launched a book, a game and we’ve sold products to over 100 countries. More importantly, we’ve made amazing connections with all of you who are using our products in your organisations, in your homes and in your schools. In 2019, one interaction in particular stands out. I loved seeing this tweet and image by the Grade 1 students at Berlin Brandenburg International School.
@curiscope - I think we have found your next marketing campaign! @BBISofficial's Grade 1 S's recreation of your product! This may just have been the cutest thing I have seen in a long time!!! @butcher74 @tokende @MichaelaMJung @maryamferdosi @nshazell @EdChatEU #AugmentedReality pic.twitter.com/EV3ceVV6YJ
— Aisha Kristiansen (@aishakrist) September 19, 2019
Running this company has given us so many insights but perhaps the most informative is that the majority of people still don’t know what augmented reality is. And this remains our most exciting challenge. Our job is not to create augmented reality products but to achieve great, magical, valuable things through our use of the tech. So when you’re putting on the Virtuali-Tee to learn about the body, you’re doing so because the unique context the product provides delivers a better outcome than would be otherwise possible.
We also learned the importance of new technologies being truly integrated within the classroom environment, not just an afterthought. And thanks to the support of hundreds of you who have filled out our surveys, we’ve been able to narrow our focus going forwards on products that sit beautifully in the classroom. We love the Virtuali-Tee because it’s dual purpose, it’s a t-shirt but it transforms into something much more. Our next product will follow this trend.
But our next product won’t be about the human body. Curiscope has always been about a wider curiosity for worlds around us, whether that be the human anatomy, an earlier time in history or going to the darkest depths of the oceans. We want to leverage technology to create learning experiences, integrated into the classroom, that wouldn’t be possible otherwise.
And so, for this week at least, I’ll leave it at that. As we move into 2020, I’m incredibly excited to take the next small step for Curiscope. Look out for our next product in February and look out for previews across January as we continue with our vision to bring learning to life. Happy new year!
]]>
Who are Curiscope?
Curiscope have been working in immersive technologies for over five years, creating the most viewed educational virtual reality experience of all time (Great White Sharks 360 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNOT_feL27Y) and the Virtuali-Tee, a t-shirt that lets you explore the human body on a human body through augmented reality.
What is the Virtuali-Tee?
It’s a t-shirt that pairs with a free app for teaching about the human anatomy in the most immersive and engaging way possible, allowing learning in context for the first time. Simply point an iOS or Android phone or tablet with the app installed at a t-shirt and watch the human body come to life. Track your heart rate live in the app, visualise the organs and go inside virtual reality experiences including the lungs, intestines and the bloodstream.
The Virtuali-Tee is now being used in thousands of schools in over 100 countries around the world. It has won the Mom’s Choice Gold Award in the USA as well as the Gold Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Award. The product has been featured on The Today Show (NBC, USA) and on This Morning (ITV, UK).
The Curiscope Mission
At Curiscope, we believe that immersive technologies can enable learning experiences that were never possible before. Whether they’re expensive, inaccessible, dangerous or straight up impossible, Curiscope is building AR & VR learning that creates an entirely new learning experience and outcome.
For the Educators
The Virtuali-Tee comes with free learning resources for use in the classroom and pairs with projectors for group-based learning.
Ed Barton, Curiscope CEO states, “since launching the product we’ve been blown away by the reaction from teachers, schools and their students, all of whom are amazed by what the product can achieve. There is still nothing like seeing the reaction of kids when they first see the product come to life and I’ll never tire of hearing teachers tell me about their experience with it.”
Aldrin De Clase, director of iWorld Australia states, “We have been in discussions with the Curiscope team for some time now and proud to be launching it together in ANZ. We have already presented the range to many schools and customers across Australia and New Zealand and the response has been out of this world. Stock is on its way and we see that customers are already ordering Curiscope in advance.”
About iWorld
Established in 2006, iWorld Australia is a leading supplier of Digital Lifestyle and Appcessory based products / STEAM education / IOT in both Australia and New Zealand, and also an approved member of the Australian Toy Association (ATA). In a fast moving IT environment, iWorld Australia has specialised focus on the new developments of emerging products and new technology. At iWorld Australia, we have a large range of manufacturers and brands to cover all our customer requirements. We are not just a “one stop shop” but a complete solutions provider to both the Australian and New Zealand market. We are now driving the STEM education market in ANZ and the IOT to our entire customer base.
About Curiscope
Curiscope was founded in 2016 by Ben Kidd and Ed Barton to bring learning to life through virtual and augmented reality. Ed Barton was chosen as a WIRED Innovation Fellow and was named in the Forbes 30 under 30 for Consumer Tech in 2017. The company has created one of the most viewed VR experiences of all time and has now sold products in over 100 countries. On top of notable awards including the Gold Mom’s Choice and TV appearances in the US & the UK, Curiscope has also worked with key partners including Amazon Studios, HTC, Discovery and Dorling Kindersley.
To watch a video about the Virtuali-Tee being used in the classroom [CLICK HERE]
For all High-Res images & Marketing assets [CLICK HERE]
For any further enquiries please email sales@iworldaustralia.com.au
]]>Content, that’s where things go right and wrong for us, and here is where I felt lucky because I grew up through an era where factual entertainment was booming and intellectually nutritious. My television was a portal to outer space, the deep sea or even just the raw awesomeness of blowing things up to see what happens! I’m referring to TV shows like Wildlife on One, The Sky at Night and of course MythBusters!
In the UK, pretty much everyone had access to 4 TV channels (eventually 5), but some had access to hundreds via cable or in my specific case, Sky satellite. At the age of 6 or 7 with 100+ channels at my disposal, I only really watched the Simpsons on a Sunday evening with a big plate of cheese and apple (try it if you haven’t already, it's an amazing combo!) or documentary channels. Even at this young age with thanks to the History channel I knew the name of all the major campaigns in WW2, that you can’t explode a petrol fuel tank with a bullet (thanks Mythbusters)...I also knew an awful lot about sharks, thanks to David Attenborough and in no small part the Discovery Channel.
Every year my shark knowledge would take focus and during a concentrated period I would learn more about my favourite animals in one week that I had throughout the rest of the year. Why? Because SHARK WEEK!
In 2016, as Virtual and Augmented reality became not only accessible to consumers but also content creators, I knew what I wanted to use this technology for. BBC Two was setup to “Inform, Educate and Entertain” and that’s exactly the baton I wanted to run with. Until that point, my career involved creating documentary explainer graphics and other bits of TV, but mostly creating CGI animation for brands, marketing and advertising, all of which needed to be engaging and communicate brand/product values. It paid the bills, but I felt I was betraying my calling, the 7 year old me wouldn’t have been all that excited about visualising the benefits of dish soap or engine oil. The potential for AR and VR to change the world was very apparent; from the moment I first watched a 360 video in a google cardboard, I ditched my client work and made a film about Great White Sharks. My inner drive and passion had finally surfaced, there was no stopping me.
Over an 8 week period in collaboration with my team, I wrote, directed animated and released this 360 film into the wild:
It was a hit! Millions of views came flooding in. Fast forward to today and this film is one of the most viewed VR 360 videos of all time and has been launch content for Youtube VR, Samsung Gear VR, Google DayDream and, just last week, Amazon Prime Video VR. It also caught the attention of another virtual reality headset manufacturer, HTC. And soon enough we were discussing turning this Great White Shark film into a room scale PC VR game. I named it Operation Apex.
Inspired by the precise narrative in the original great white shark 360 film, including using the voice of my wonderfully talented friend Natalie Samson we released Operation Apex on Viveport, Steam and Oculus in December 2017.
Operation Apex is different from traditional factual entertainment. Because you are not an observer, you are directly a participant in the adventure. Natalie isn’t an Attenborough style narrator, she is your teammate and guide! We created a virtual reality experience that took you into nature, science and, first-hand, YOU discover and learn facts through activity rather than consuming visuals. I still love linear, televisual, factual entertainment, it can do things that VR cannot. What we’ve created here is a branch of factual entertainment, not a competitor. It was my dream to expand, not to disrupt, and I'm personally very proud to be part of inspiring others, just as others inspired me as a boy.
We are also very proud of Operation Apex, it has been a success, critically acclaimed and for all the right reasons:
“It’s as close to living The Blue Planet as I’m going to get...”
Andy Boxall, Digital Trends
Just as the 360 film attracted the attention of HTC, Operation Apex has attracted the attention of one of the aforementioned TV channels: Discovery. Today Curiscope, HTC Vive Studios and Discovery are proud to launch Discovery Shark Week: Operation Apex.
The team here at Curiscope are super proud that our vision to take factual entertainment into new dimensions has attracted one of the major influencing brands of our youth. We’re really excited to be able to re-launch Operation Apex under the Shark Week banner and we look forward to all the new players this boost will bring to our game. They are in for quite an adventure, hopefully one which will leave them with a new admiration and respect for sharks but also have them think about their own individual impact on the oceans through day to day habits.
On Steam: Discovery Shark Week: Operation Apex.
On Viveport: Discovery Shark Week: Operation Apex.
Amazon Prime Video VR is initially available across Oculus headsets including the Quest, Go and Samsung Gear VR. For more info head to their launch page.
For more coverage, check out:
Variety: Amazon is bringing Prime VR to headsets
Oculus: Watch Amazon Prime Video in VR
TechRadar: Amazon Prime Video's Virtual Theatre is open for business
CNET: Amazon Prime Video launches VR streaming
For the Amazon press release and more info, read on:
Today, Amazon rolled out Prime Video VR, a brand-new viewing experience featuring the extensive Prime Video catalog of movies and TV series including Amazon Originals such as The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Fleabag and Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, as well as voice-powered search. Now customers in the US and UK can watch their favorite titles within their own private virtual movie theater using an Oculus Quest, Oculus Go or Samsung Gear VR headset.
In addition to Amazon’s extensive library of TV and movies, Prime Video VR offers a curated selection of ten 360° videos at launch and will continue to add new VR-specific titles. Using their VR headset, Prime members have full access to the Prime Video catalogue including VR content. Non-Prime customers cannot access VR-specific content, but they can watch anything from their personal library in VR.
To access Prime Video VR, customers will need to download the Prime Video VR app for Oculus Quest, Oculus Go, or Samsung Gear VR from the Oculus Store. Once installed, Prime members can sign into their Prime Video account and start browsing or searching titles just by using their voice.
For more information on Amazon Prime Video VR, please visit: amazon.com/PrimeVideoVR.
]]>Non vediamo l’ora di vedere la Virtuali-Tee nelle mani di insegnanti, genitori e studenti in tutta Italia. Se non l’avete ancora provata, che cosa aspettate? Non c’é modo piú semplice per sperimentare con la Realtá Aumentata a scuola, e potete farlo per il prezzo di una T-shirt! Giá in uso in oltre 5000 classi in scuole in tutto il mondo, é il genere di tecnologia che non smette mai di provocare stupore.
L’app funziona su dispositivi IOS e Android. Se desiderate acquistare il prodotto, lo potete fare su Amazon.it per 29.95€ con Amazon Prime, oppure sul nostro sito per £25 con spedizione gratuita.
In aggiunta abbiamo delle risorse didattiche in lingua inglese che speriamo di tradurre in piú lingue e di adattare ai curriculum dei paesi interessati. Se sei insegnante e interessato/a a collaborare con noi per questo progetto, non esitare a contattarci!
Se invece siete interessati a vendere il prodotto in retail, o nei vostri negozi/musei, mandatemi un email all’ indirizzo hatty@curiscope.com.
Curiscope ha come scopo la curiositá dei giovani: soddisfarla, ma anche e soprattutto provocarla e spingerla oltre.
]]>Body Worlds is a museum made up of real, plastinated people and is unlike any museum or exhibit you’ll have ever seen.
For me, and I imagine a lot of Brits, you might remember your first encounter with one half of the brains behind Body Worlds, Dr. Gunther von Hagens, on a Channel 4 documentary in 2002 as he performed the first public autopsy in the UK in 170 years. Fun fact: A public autopsy was deemed a criminal act at the time and the Met Police watched on in the audience, but didn’t arrest him. It also broke the OFCOM record for the most number of complaints. We’re a reserved bunch in the UK.
Fast forward nearly 20 years and the travelling Body Worlds exhibit has been seen by almost 50million people in over 140 cities. But until now, it’s never had a permanent home. Naturally, Curiscope had to visit.
Body Worlds is a strange place, let’s not kid ourselves. Weirdly, the human anatomy is one of the last taboos, and it feels odd or maybe even uncomfortable as you walk around, with the constant reminder that these bodies around you aren’t just models, they’re real people who have donated their bodies to Science.
What attracts me though is this idea that the world beneath our skin is odd, unseen and incredibly unfamiliar. Yet it is the thing that powers us all, quietly working away every second of every single day from birth to death. It always struck me as odd that this could ever be seen as unmentionable or strange or that it ever needed to be represented in a censored manner, yet it is. And I’ve always thought this is a big mistake and one that disconnects us from our health and wellbeing.
And as it is with Body Worlds, this was the motivation behind the Virtuali-Tee; contextualise the reality of the body and connect human beings to their anatomy. It sounds like a super simple thing, and one that some have even perceived to be gimmicky, but to think that is to misunderstand how important a relationship this is to enable. If we are able to connect kids to their anatomy in the context of their own bodies, not just a diagram or a model, then they will be able to fully understand the impact that good diet and exercise can have. And we might also create some wannabe scientists in the process.
So in a world where we fight almost on the daily with companies like Facebook who want to censor images of our product because it might offend (this really happens!), I love to see organisations exist like Body Worlds. As you wander through the exhibit you gain an entirely new perspective on what it means to live and to be alive, and a very appropriate sense of awe about how complex and fascinating the human body is. Because it genuinely is, and we don’t get to experience that enough.
-Ed
Oh, and we are of course now stocking the Virtuali-Tee in the Body Worlds store. I don’t think there’s a more fitting place for this product in the entire world.
]]>La langue française étant l’une des langues la plus demandée, nous sommes ravis d’annoncer qu’elle est disponible avec le Virtuali-Tee, sur notre site ainsi que tous les sites Amazon en Europe.
Nous avons hâte de voir ce produit dans les mains des professeurs, des parents et surtouts des enfants partout en France, dans les mois qui suivent. C’est une façon facile d’avoir accès à la réalité augmentée. Utilisé dans 5000 salle de classe dans le monde, vous pouvez avoir l'expérience pour le prix d’un t-shirt. Disponible sur IOS et Android, cette une technologie qui enchante à chaque utilisation.
Si vous voulez acheter ce produit, vous pouvez sur Amazon.fr pour 29.95€ avec Amazon Prime or autrement, sur notre site pour £25 avec une livraison gratuite.
Nous avons des ressources de professeur dans la langue Anglaise, et nous aimerons bien parler avec des professeurs français afin de pouvoir faire une traduction pour les programmes scolaires français.
Finalement, si vous êtes intéressé par la vente de ce produit dans votre commerce, dans votre magasin ou dans votre boutique au musée, je suis a votre disposition. Vous pouvez me contacter à hatty@curiscope.com. Je parle francais!
]]>It's clear to me today that language is a beautiful and fascinating subject, however I’ll admit that at school it was not my favorite class (English or otherwise!). I believe I struggled with learning a new language and exploring my own native dialect because I didn't see the relevance nor gain enjoyment from doing so at such a young age. This has been a huge regret of mine because growing into an adult and realizing just how important my ability to communicate is. I wish I had been able to engage with those classes.
One of my favorite aspects of language and literature are quotes, such as the words of Mahatma Gandhi: “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
So today, in the spirit of that wonderful quote, myself and the team at Curiscope are extremely proud to announce the Virtuali-Tee is now available in 11 languages (from west to east):
It's our hope that including these languages will contribute to changing the perception of developing language skills for young people (and adults alike!). We carefully chose to add these languages in order to make the Virtuali-Tee app available to the largest number of countries, territories and ultimately people.
Multiple languages means more people can learn about the body but we have taken this a step further and added the ability to mix and match the text and speech settings of the app, so for example you can listen in German whilst reading subtitles in Korean. This makes the Virtuali-Tee an extremely engaging tool for teaching language, as in my case if I were learning French in school using an augmented reality t-shirt, you can bet I’d have been 10x more engaged. Likewise, in English class doing a comprehension exam based on learning about the circulatory system in Augmented Reality, would have significantly raised my pulse rate (in a good way!). We also think this is super exciting for bi-lingual families, where our app can bring together a family to learn about the body using both parents' native tongue.
The app should automatically detect which region you are in and select the appropriate language but you can override the language selection within settings. Simply tap the cog icon top left and you'll have access to the language menu along with the button for switching on and off subtitles. Within the language menu you can independently select the language you would like for the voice and text.
We couldn't add every single possible language, as there are over 7111 spoken around the world today (just 23 of those account for over half the world's population!). However with the current 11 languages we now include in the Virtuali-Tee app we cover hundreds of countries. Here is a live map of the countries where languages included in our app are officially spoken:
We are very proud of our global coverage and we intend to continue to fill in the gaps! Arabic is next but if you would like to see the app translated into your language please get in touch via education@curiscope.com
Merci pour la lecture
Ben - Co-founder of Curiscope
Sources:
https://www.ethnologue.com/guides/how-many-languages
http://worldpopulationreview.com
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New tech is scary. I get it. Even after working in software development for many years I still get that sinking, gut-heavy, swallowed-a-bag-of-marbles feeling when faced with unknown tech. The idea of it is exciting. Like, oh my goodness, I can apply this to so many situations. But using it? And on my own? It’s sweaty-palm time. What if I get it wrong? Or worse, what if I’m sneered at for exploring tech as a woman?
]]>New tech is scary. I get it. Even after working in software development for many years I still get that sinking, gut-heavy, swallowed-a-bag-of-marbles feeling when faced with unknown tech. The idea of it is exciting. Like, oh my goodness, I can apply this to so many situations. But using it? And on my own? It’s sweaty-palm time. What if I get it wrong? Or worse, what if I’m sneered at for exploring tech as a woman?
I’m not alone in this fear, and it shows in the stats: According to Women in Technology only “one-in-six tech specialists in the UK are women, only one-in-ten are IT leaders”. Don’t get me wrong, I know there are plenty of people nowadays who wholeheartedly encourage and admire women working in and using technology (I work with some of them), but the change is not happening fast enough. To speed it up, and to assure it, we need to focus on young minds.
If you’re over 30, you’ll probably remember that school lessons were very gendered. I didn’t see women using tech and, many years later, still feel like I’m carrying this impression around like a spectral Mrs Beeton. Stick to what you know, girl. Well, screw you Beeton. I ain’t stickin’. I’m gonna try every bit of technology I can get my hands on and I’d encourage you to do the same.
You see, being visible when exploring tech, especially if you are in a teaching position, is vital. Young girls need to see that tech is also for them, and the boys need to see that too. I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but I want you to really think about it. I want you to look critically at your relationship with tech and ask yourself if you’re doing everything you can to be comfortable. Do you have nagging doubts? You may think it won’t matter - other teachers will do it - surely you don’t have to be the tech savvy one? But it does matter. A lot. You may engage a young mind in a way another teacher won’t. You may have the trust of a little girl that sees you as their go-to-model for how to be a grownup.
And let’s not forget a relaxed and positive view of tech is going to be much more important for future generations. It’s not just going to form part of their everyday relationship with the world, but it’ll also shape their careers. The more prepared they are, the better lives they will lead. We know it’s imperative children are taught the value of the non-digital world - nature and our relationship with it - but every single aspect of our lives will involve tech. Being comfortable with it will make it possible for new generations to achieve their goals and that includes saving the planet.
Ok, so deep breath. Let’s learn about Augmented Reality; a technology that can and will transform your classroom in the future. I’ll start by explaining a little of how it works - to dispel the fear of the unknown - and then talk through a few cool ways of exploring it.
In short, AR places digital objects in the real world, in real time. Most recently, we’ve seen it in apps like Pokemon Go, but examples of AR have been prevalent in sci-fi films for decades. Remember Terminator? Arnie’s character is able to see information about his target, overlaid on his current viewpoint. The information adapts depending on where he looks, thanks to his built-in AR lens.
A few years later came the release of Back to the Future II. In this we see Marty McFly terrified by a hologram of Jaws. This example of AR would require a projector to be mounted on the cinema as Marty isn’t wearing the required tech to ‘see’ it himself.
And that’s where our modern day devices come in. Without a sci-fi holographic projector, we need our smartphone, tablet or goggles to behave like Arnie’s android eyes and overlay the digital objects into the real world. But how can this enhance our lives?
Well, there are SO many applications for this technology, not just for games like Pokemon Go. In the not-so-distant future, AR will be prevalent in all aspects of society. Take retail for example - fancy saving yourself a heap of money by seeing just how that tropical print sofa will look with that paisley carpet? Last year, homeware giant Ikea released an app that enables you to place digital products in your room to see how they look before you buy.
Health is another area - some surgeons believe AR will help make operations safer and cheaper by overlaying information that would normally be on a separate screen, onto the patient. Information like heart rate, anaesthetisation time remaining or depth of incision required. They see AR becoming “as commonplace as the use of a stethoscope”. Pretty nuts, right?
I’d suggest that it’s the immediacy of information shown in the examples above which provides a great opportunity for education. Smart devices are prevalent nowadays - there isn’t a need for specialist equipment - and they provide simple accessibility to an engaging experience. Add these factors together and you have a quick and easy classroom tool that can be applied to a variety of lessons. Even something like colouring can have a new and engaging makeover - take Quiver for example. It uses printed colouring pages to enable kids to explore educational facts or just simply play.
Alternatively, you can explore the educational potential for AR without any cost at all by using the Curiscope Virtuali-tee free tracker. You can download the app for free and point it at the printable tracker to experience the wonders of the digestive system. It’s an engaging and gruesome way to learn about the body. There are some suggested lesson plans on our website and the Curiscope support team are happy to answer any questions.
Whatever you choose to explore though, do it with abandon. Just dive in and experiment. There’s so much to gain here and absolutely nothing to lose. Show it’s fun to try tech and it is ok to fail. Let me say that again: It is OK to fail.
I wish I’d had a woman in my childhood I could relate to who embraced STEM. One who wouldn’t bat an eyelid at exploring the capabilities of technology. You can be that woman. Push past any fear of trying new tech for the sake of the girls in your classroom and, above all, enjoy it.
]]>You may have heard of augmented reality apps. They are just like any other app you can download via the Google Play or iTunes store...but they have the magical power to bring holograms into your world! Ok, its not really magic, but it is an amazing technology your phone is already compatible with.
Many augmented reality apps rely on a printed image in order to function, this image is know as an augmented reality tracker. Therefore an augmented reality (AR) tracker is a specific pattern or image that an augmented reality app can recognise.
Once the app finds the pattern, it constantly ‘tracks’ the position of the pattern in real world space so the app can accurately place a virtual object onto the tracker.
In this video you can see me demonstrating that as I move the printed tracker, the organs move with it:
In this video you can see the principle is the same if I keep the tracker still, but move the camera:
AR trackers are usually flat and printed on paper or card. Some are 3D objects such as the merge cube. AR trackers can be called many things such as targets, QR codes or markers, these are all the same thing...a tracker! (except for QR codes. They are often confused with AR trackers but are actually visual patterns that store a web address and not really AR related at all, but I listed here as it’s a popular name misused for an AR tracker)
The merge cube is essentially a 6 sided AR tracker, neat huh!
There are some AR apps that do not need a printed tracker to place objects in the real world, that is because of a recent advance in AR technology allowing certain mobile devices to make sense of the environment just through the devices sensors. Apple users may recognise the name “ARkit”, as this is Apple’s innovative advance in AR technology. Google have something very similar called “ARcore”. Check out our free iOS app shARk If you’d like to experience feeding sharks in AR using ARkit.
It’s super easy to get everything you need to start using our free tracker:
Open the app and scan the tracker!
Once you have everything you need, open the app, let the loading screen finish, and continue on past the tips. Once you see a camera feed open with a blue square in the middle point your devices camera at the printed tracker. This is known as “scanning” the tracker.
You’ll know the scan is successful because virtual human internal organs will appear to be stuck to the tracker, it’s all guts & glory from here on! You can move in and out to see the detail by moving the phone close, just as you would when using the devices camera. You can tap on the buttons to activate various things, such as 360 video and the virtual tour guide Dr Glover!
You will also see that some of the virtual buttons have padlocks on them, this is because we have limited what comes free with the printable tracker (we provide digestive system and the heart rate tracker for free!). You can unlock the other features in several ways:
For classrooms where you would like every pupil to have an AR tracker, but don’t want to purchase 30+ tshirts or setup the in-app purchase 30+ times over, we have a solution! By purchasing 10 or more tshirts, not only will you receive a 25% discount, but you’ll also receive a special printable tracker which unlocks all the apps features just like a tshirt. To find out more about bulk discounts, please contact us via livechat or email education@curiscope.com
]]>Here’s why...
It has always been important to Curiscope to make high quality immersive educational experience, but it’s also equally important that they be ultra-accessible...and by ultra, we mean as close to anyone and everyone as it’s possible to get!
There are a couple of very common barriers that stop the awesome engagement power of AR being brought to a classroom:
A. Teacher’s don’t have devices that support AR.
B. Teacher’s don’t have the budget to afford new tech/tools.
C. Teacher’s don’t have time to integrate new tech/tools
We learned about these very common issues through speaking directly with teachers. So this year we decided to do what we could to break those barriers down, and as of today, I’m pleased to say we’ve made some good progress!
Here’s how:
A. Actually, the majority of devices ARE compatible! iPads are now very common in schools these days and the majority of these devices are compatible with augmented reality! The issue is, people just don’t realise. So our free tracker is aiming to help raise that awareness. Please help us spread the word!
B. The tracker is free and printable...in fact, it works if projected or displayed on screens too. So no additional budget is required to bring AR into your classroom! The free tracker allows the use of the digestive system and heart rate tracker of our free Virtuali-Tee app. Better still the free printable tracker is a great way to try out the Virtuali-Tee app and get approval from your administrator for the budget to buy official Virtuali-Tees with!
C. We have provided free lessons plans to accompany the free printable tracker so teachers have everything they need to start teaching all about the heart or digestive system with minimal prep
So what’s stopping you? Head on over to www.curiscope.com/freebie and get started. AR is as easy as ABC!
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Dear all the teachers everywhere,
As the founder of Curiscope, it’s been a huge perk of my job to meet and speak with so many passionate, talented and hardworking educators from all over the globe. I learn so much from each and every one of you….and as a result, I felt the need to share awareness of a specific challenge you all have to tackle each and every day.
]]>As the founder of Curiscope, it’s been a huge perk of my job to meet and speak with so many passionate, talented and hardworking educators from all over the globe. I learn so much from each and every one of you….and as a result, I felt the need to share awareness of a specific challenge you all have to tackle each and every day.
The Challenge:
Thinking back I don’t think I really appreciated what went into my lessons. It’s not personal, it's just that whenever a young mind is told they have to do something (like go to school!) it’s very difficult for them to buy into it, especially when it’s not associated with play (for me school felt like the opposite of play). Having learned a lot recently about what it takes to give great lessons I couldn’t believe how much hard work, creativity, evenings, weekends and most shockingly hard earned cash from your own pockets it takes. The obvious question it raised for me around this daily challenge was was “why go the extra mile?”.
Whilst I’m sure appreciation is always welcome, what I’ve learned is that it’s not really what drives you as teachers. What I admire the most is that for the majority of teachers I have met and spoken with over the years and recent months you all are fuelled by the reward of seeing your students learn and grow into healthy, kind and balanced adults with a bright future ahead of them and ultimately all of us. I learned you guys do whatever it takes to achieve the best for your students (our children!), a truly admirable and noble pursuit.
It’s ultimately the same reason Ed and I formed Curiscope and as we’ve realised how common our goals are, we have been actively aligning the company to further enable teachers to raise wonderfully bright young minds. As many of you may know our first product is the Virtuali-Tee! A t-shirt and app that lets you take your class on an amazing augmented reality learning adventure through the human body! A truly transformative experience for your classroom.
The thank you:
We believe in maximising how far you’re passion and hard work goes and as such, I am really proud to present that we now have free teaching resources available to all. These not only accompany the Virtuali-Tee, but can also be used without purchasing anything, either by utilising the freely available features of the app, or the non-t-shirt related activities and worksheets we have included. We also now have a free printable tracker too!
Working directly with our wonderful community of teachers, we’ve developed a range of teaching resources to get you teaching about the human body quickly and easily. For direct customers, we wanted to save you the time of building lessons around the Virtuali-Tee from scratch. The worksheets and activities provided will be fun for the individuals, groups or the whole class. We’ve also considered making this work easy to mark or grade.
From a technical point of view we wanted to keep things simple, familiar and therefore easy to adapt, so the resources have been created in powerpoint and docx format. We aim to keep things worldwide friendly so to start with they are built in line with the UK/US/International common core/national curriculums. They are initially for use within Primary/Elementary/Middle years but we intend to grow this out to lower and higher school years. Admittedly they are all in UK English but please for now feel free to translate...even better share those back with us so we can back out to the teachers and students who share your language.
We intend to grow across more topics but realise some are a higher priority than others, so to start with we have created resources across these key subjects:
You can browse and download the resources via our new education website dedicated to all the teachers! www.curiscope.com/edu
So this is the best thank you we can offer you right now (more exciting news to come very soon!). We are excited to see how you integrate the Virtuali-Tee into your classroom and would love you to share any questions or feedback you have in the comments below. Also please feel free email us via education@curiscope.com if there is anything you want to discuss. We’ll be announcing more about building an official educator community very soon, to hear about this please sign up to our newsletter below.
All the best!
Ben,
Co-founder of Curiscope.
P.s. Having personally worked on these resources with the team, I think it really helped me appreciate your hard work even more.
]]>Teachers are very skilled at engaging their students, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Not only is there a huge range of tools and approaches to employ, the children themselves have their own methods to engage themselves which we all try to compete with. It’s stiff competition, as they are using digital technology to explore the world right from the palm of their hand, and who can blame them, as adults we are just the same (here you are reading this!).
So with this in mind, I’d love to share some of the things I have experienced that help engage, not only kids but really us all as humans. Please allow me to preface all this with “In my honest opinion”.
Comfort and Freedom
First of all I don’t think I’ve ever been able to engage, embrace, adopt or connect with anything I was forced to. Being forced is always uncomfortable, and I discovered very early on that I could not learn about anything unless I was comfortable. Perhaps the reason why reading books is so relaxing is not just the immersive content of the book, but the physically relaxing position we take up while we read. Another key aspect of books is that we often get a personal choice! As we are free to pluck books off the shelf in a library, we take ownership of that decision. Ownership over that decision automatically connects us deeper to the contents of the book. Therefore the freedom of choice and the comfort that welcomes a person to do so is the foundation of engagement. Kids can’t often choose what they are being asked to do, but we can make it comfortable and give enough freedom to allow them to own the experience.
Newness
Do you have Robins in your garden? Feisty little birds that’s for sure, no other bird in my garden is welcome without little Robin’s approval. Robins aren’t just bossy, they are also insanely curious. I wanted to film a bird up close with my 360 VR camera. I set up the camera and sprinkled some seeds, expecting to wait for days to capture a shot, but guess who showed up within minutes (and wasn’t even interested in the seeds)….
The point here is that anything innovative and new also sparks curiosity in us. Introducing something new to kids is a sure fire way to get their attention. This doesn’t have to be complex or techy...but tech does speak much closer to their interests. Bring in a 360 camera to a classroom and you will get the same response the robin gave me. That curiosity can then be leveraged onto any topic you choose, especially if that means making 360 videos as a class. Like I say, it doesn’t have to be techy to be new, but it’s an obvious place to start.
Creativity
Going back to the concept of ownership and choice, when we get to decide how we reach an objective we connect with it in a much deeper way. One of my fondest memories in school was being asked to make the tallest structure I could with just 5 sheets of plain paper. I had a simple objective and all the freedom in the universe to reach it. In the end, the only extra resource I used was scotch tape... but the real freedom was within my mind in the design decisions I made. The fact I remember this experience 28 years later is a testament to the power of creative freedom.
Sometimes all we need is a simple objective and the freedom to reach it:
Contribution
I’d like you to put your hand up in the air (stretch while you are at it), easy isn’t it! However, in a classroom, there can be some kind of gravitational/cosmic force stopping children's hands from going up. These mysterious forces of nature are complex. While theoretical physicists are looking into this... for now let’s perhaps recognise that social pressure and the risk of putting oneself forward is a pretty heavy influence. Once the ice is broken, we all feel more comfortable with the risk of contributing something stupid or wrong. Asking silly questions is a great way to break that ice, in fact when making Curiscope promotional films with schools we ask the kids really silly and fun questions. We find that as a film crew this builds trust in that we are just as playful as they are, after that point the kids are very keen to volunteer to risk looking silly with us.
My point here is not just about silly questions, it’s about breaking the ice, levelling the playing field so that no-one is afraid to contribute. Contribution is not only a sign that people are engaged, it’s also a key confidence builder and plays right into building that sense of owning a bit of the shared experience.
Magic
Wouldn’t it be amazing to just be able to conjure up anything you needed to inspire, amaze and engage?! You’d have to be a magician though right? Correct….though here at Curiscope we are working to change this...so stay tuned for future products via our twitter @curiscope.
Bringing something magical to the classroom or home is just the same as bringing in anything new except that with an illusional or mysterious element the engagement is supercharged! Just like a catalyst, the reaction is increased exponentially. With magic, we can do all of the things discussed in this article but with super efficiency. I appreciate that magic is hard to find and, whilst we work on making this easier, we do have something you can work with right away: The Virtuali-Tee. Ed and I formed Curiscope initially around a product with the simple idea that the ultimate way to learn about the body was on a human body! So we created an Augmented Reality t-shirt to allow you to do just that! You can find out more on our website.
Here is a taster of what a magical-supercharged-engagement-reaction looks and sounds like:
I hope I never stop learning and through Curiscope I get to meet and chat with wonderfully passionate teachers and educators from whom I learn so much. So seeing as you are here, I’d like to ask you a question: What are some of the tips you have for engaging your students? Comments below!
Feel free to engage and connect with me via twitter! @benthat3dkidd
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But hearts are even more clever than that! Because when we say ‘heart rate’ we mean the number of times your heart beats in a minute, but your heart even changes its rhythm nearly every single beat! So that means if your heart beats 60 times a minute, it doesn’t usually beat exactly once a second - there could be 1.05 seconds between two heartbeats but then the next one happens 0.095 seconds later!
One cause of this is that when we breathe in the heart wants to beat faster (picture yourself taking a deep breath in before doing exercise) and when we breathe out our heart wants to beat slower - so depending on which one we’re doing when the heart beats effects the time before in next beats!
Other things that also affect the beat to beat changes include mental health - if you’re stressed then your body isn’t as able to react to all the little changes it usually can, so the changes in time between each heartbeat in response to go down. Something that can increase beat to beat variability is playing wind instruments!
So see if you can show us the changes in your heart rate using the Virtuali-tee pulse tracker! Exercise to increase your heart rate or even try closing your mouth, pinching your nose shut and trying to push air out (like what you do to fix ‘popped’ ears after a flight) because that actually lowers your heart rate!
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This latest update introduces a feature that really gets your pulse racing...the Heart Rate Tracker. Not only are you now able to measure your heart rate within the app, but with the Virtuali-Tee you can see your heart beating live on your chest in augmented reality! It's going to bring you another step closer to visualising and understanding what is actually happening inside your body.
If you don’t already have a Virtuali-Tee, pop on over to the product page to get started. You can also download the free app from Apple's App Store and Google Play and start measuring your heart rate today!
To learn a bit more about what it does and how it works check out this blog post.
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We’re announcing a new feature….but first, let’s have some backstory and some science!
The back story:
Many mobile phone generations ago, back in 2016, whilst the middle of developing version 1.0 of Virtuali-tee for our Kickstarter backers, I remember discovering that my phone (Samsung S6) had a pulse sensor built into it. Right next to the camera was a tiny little rectangular sensor, it had always been there, but I had never noticed it. It worked almost like magic, by simply placing my fingertip over the sensor the phone took my pulse rate and presented it to me.
]]>The back story:
Many mobile phone generations ago, back in 2016, whilst the middle of developing version 1.0 of Virtuali-tee for our Kickstarter backers, I remember discovering that my phone (Samsung S6) had a pulse sensor built into it. Right next to the camera was a tiny little rectangular sensor, it had always been there, but I had never noticed it. It worked almost like magic, by simply placing my fingertip over the sensor the phone took my pulse rate and presented it to me.
At the time I thought it would be wonderful if all phones could do this, because then our Virtuali-tee app could track the wearer’s pulse rate, allowing them to visualise their heart beating live on their chest! I imagined all the wonderful experiments people could do with a built-in heart rate tracker, I thought about how this would transform how we learn about the important role the heart plays in our body into something really fun. It felt like a dream so close to coming true, but I knew the odds of every phone having an expensive pulse sensor embedded were slim...
Well, I was right about those odds, hardly any phones have a dedicated pulse sensor...but amazingly, I was wrong about the need for a special sensor! It turns out this same phenomenal technical wizardry could be achieved through a different sensor, one that all phones now have…….the humble camera.
The science:
As Arthur C Clark put it “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”...and he’s right, because this is far from wizardry. The science behind this is established and solid. The technique is known as “Contact Photoplethysmography” (pronounce Photo-ple-fis-mogra-fi). If you have ever been into hospital for an operation, and the nurse popped a wired clip over the end of your finger or toe, that will be a little, infrared sensor carrying out contact photoplethysmography.
The method works by measuring the amount of light that is absorbed by your flesh, blood and bones. More blood absorbs more light, so as your heart beats and higher pressure/density blood rushes into your finger more light is absorbed. The sensor detects this increased absorption and graphs it onto the ECG machine (the beep beep beep machine you hope doesn’t flatline into to beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.)
The new feature announcement!
So by using the same principles, it seemed that indeed we could bring pulse rate tracking into the Virtuali-tee app…..and we have! As of the 23rd of July, the app will update with a brand new feature: A heart rate tracker:
As ever, we’re doing things slightly differently. In the Virtuali-tee’s heart rate tracking feature we measure your pulse in almost exactly the same way, with the exception that we are using just the visual spectrum of light as supposed to infrared. The device camera produces a video feed, which once a fingertip is placed over the lens becomes bright red (either by surrounding light passing through the finger or via the devices flashlight LED). We then sample the image for regular drops in the RGB values of a sample set of pixels. Once we have a regular pattern we are confident isn’t the result of grain/noise, we map this to a set of animations and trigger the measurement cycle.
There is such a thing as non-contact photoplethysmography, which is via the analysis of the video feed and detecting colour changes in someone’s face. Quite remarkable stuff!
We can’t wait to launch this new feature of the app and look forward to the discoveries you’ll make into what affects your heart rate.
You can grab your Virtuali-tee on:
And don't forget to download the Virtuali-Tee App on:
Author: Ben Kidd - Co-founder of Curiscope, creator of the Virtuali-Tee
References:
https://www.nature.com/articles/srep10494
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photoplethysmogram
]]>The most accurate time to take your resting heart rate is when you’ve been sitting for a while. One of the easiest ways to do this is use two fingers (usually your forefinger and middle finger but not your thumb as its own pulse will confuse your readings) and gently compress the artery in your wrist or neck.
Count the number of pulses over a 15 second period and multiply this by four. Taking your heart rate in this way uses pressure whereas most wearable heart rate trackers like smartwatches use a method called photoplethysmography (try saying that quickly 3 times over…or even once!). This is an optical method of detecting the heart rate. Heart rate monitor apps for phones and tablets use the camera and light to detect the pulse. In our next article Ben, Curiscope’s Co-Founder and creator of the Virtuali-Tee, will talk a bit more about how this works and why we decided to include our own Heart Rate Tracker in the Virtuali-Tee.
Using photoplethysmography in devices such as smartwatches does have its limitations as ambient light and muscle movements can interrupt the tracker. While they might not as accurate as something like an ECG (Electrocardiogram) which involves sensors being attached to the skin that detect the electric signals produced each time your heart beats. However, devices using photoplethysmography are a quick and accessible way to take your heart rate and is particularly useful to demonstrate different heart rates.
Exercise and physical activity have a huge impact on your heart rate and regular exercise can lower your resting heart dramatically. For example, as a fairly active person my own resting heart rate tends to be in the region of 50-55 bpm and when I’m exercising my heart can reach up to 190 bpm in what is called my ‘peak heart rate zone’.
Your peak heart rate zone is the high-intensity exercise zone. You can calculate your peak heart rate with the traditional formula of 220 minus your age. When your heart rate hits this zone it means it is over 85% of your maximum heart rate. You’ll experience your heart rate hitting this if you’ve ever cycled up a steep hill for more than a few minutes or if you’ve been doing intense exercise for an extended period of time.
Professional athletes tend to have resting heart rates that typically dip below 40. Mo Farah’s resting heart has been recorded at 33 bpm! Athletes usually have these lower heart rates due to something called stroke volume, which means the volume of blood that the heart is capable of pumping out with each stroke. This is because the muscles in the heart are much stronger, just like you’ll see with your other muscles after long-term training. The higher the volume of blood pumped per stroke the lower your heart rate, which creates a higher level of efficiency for professional athletes who are expending huge amounts of energy. This is what also reduces your resting heart rate as you can build up your stroke volume over time. For a normal person who doesn’t run a marathon in just over two hours, they don’t need a high stroke volume.
Last week Ben had a resting heart rate of 111 because he was ill and his body was fighting off infection. To put this into context, his normal resting heart rate is around 65. His immune system increased his heart rate as his body needed more blood flow to carry the white blood cells to fight off infection and remove anything bad for the body. The heart can adapt its heart rate to give your body energy as and when it needs it.
Having a higher or lower heart rate than the average person doesn’t necessarily mean you are unhealthy. If you are worried about your heart rate it’s best to speak to your doctor about it!
What you eat and drink can also affect your heart rate. Caffeine, in particular, can increase the heart rate by block adenosine, the chemical in the brain that makes you feel drowsy and slows your heart. However, a recent study published in PLOS Biology, researchers from Heinrich-Heine-University and the IUF-Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine in Düsseldorf, Germany found that there may be health benefits in drinking caffeine on a daily basis. They believe that caffeine may help to improve the health of the cells lining the arteries and veins in your heart, strengthening their ability to recover from damage.
Disclaimer: This article has been thoroughly researched and fact-checked but I am not a medical professional or healthcare expert! Please do let us know if you feel any mistakes have been made. If you are concerned about your heart rate or your health it’s best to go and see your doctor.
]]>The right half of your heart receives ‘deoxygenated blood’ which is pumped through the lungs to collect a fresh supply of oxygen before travelling to the left side of the heart to pump the blood all around the body. The blood can only travel one way because the heart has valves that prevent the blood from flowing back the way it came. The “dub-dub” sound of your heartbeat comes from these valves opening and closing! Below are 5 mind-blowing facts about your heart!
Your heart can keep beating even if it is separated from the body!
Your heart doesn’t stop beating if it’s separated from the body. It has the ability to carry on beating independently of the brain as long as it has access to oxygen and can survive up to four hours after separation. This is what allows surgeons enough time to perform life-saving heart transplant surgeries.
However, scientists at Sweden's Lund University have made a major breakthrough on the creation of a heart-lung machine which provides the donor heart with oxygen and could potentially extend this time frame up to 12 hours!
Your heartbeat changes and mimics the music you listen to!
Your heart rate can change to match the music you’re listening to, but whether it increases or decreases depends on the tempo of the music you’re listening to. Listening to music such as classical music has a calming effect and slows your heart rate while music with higher tempos such as techno increases your heart rate.
Studies performed at Massachusetts General Hospital and in medical facilities in Hong Kong showed that people who listened to music for 20 to 30 minutes each day had a slower heart rate and lower blood pressure compared to those who didn’t.
Your heart pumps blood through more than 60,000 miles of blood vessels!
Your heart works hard to continuously pump blood around the body delivering oxygen, food and hormones. The blood your heart pumps will travel through 60,000 miles of blood vessels in the average adult. To put this into perspective the Earth’s circumference is only 24,901 miles. This means the average adult’s blood vessels can wrap around the Earth almost three times!
One drop of blood contains more than 300 million blood cells and an individual blood cell only takes about 1 minute to travel from the heart, around the body and back to the heart again!
The heart beats over 100,000 times a day!
Every minute the average adult’s heart beats around 70 times a minute. That adds up to 4,200 times an hour and 100,000 times a day. It never stops and as the heart beats it pushes the blood out of the heart and into the arteries leading to the rest of the body to supply it with oxygen.
Your heart also beats faster as and when you need it, such as when you’re exercising for example. If you’re resting heart rate is around 70 beats per minute it will increase to around 95 when you’re walking, 140 when jogging and around 180 when sprinting!
A blue whale’s heart is the largest heart in the world!
Blue Whales can measure up to 30 meters long and weigh up to 173 tonnes, so it isn’t surprising that they have the largest hearts in the world, they need it to pump all the blood around their massive bodies. The arteries alone are so big that an adult human can swim through them and their hearts can weigh up to 590 kgs (1,300lbs)! To give you an idea of just how big a Blue Whale’s heart is, they are about the same size as a Volkswagen Beetle!
A Blue Whale’s heart also beats on average 8-10 times per minute (a dolphin’s at 35-45 beats per minute and a human’s at 70 beats per minute) which can be heard up to 2 miles away!
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Slime is made after a chemical reaction between two main ingredients; polyvinyl alcohol and borate ion. Both of which you can find in everyday household items. Polyvinyl alcohol can be found in simple PVA glue and borate ion is created when bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) is mixed with contact lens solution. It’s super important to make sure that the solution you’re using contains the ingredients boric acid and sodium borate.
When I initially ventured out to source the ingredients for the perfect slime I made the mistake of buying the first contact lens solution I found without checking if it contained the key ingredients. The results of that batch of slime were dubious at best and disastrous at worst. One suggestion I found online to thicken my runny slime was to add dish soap and salt. Do not do this, all it results in is weird green slush that smells weird.
For my slime I created the borate ion by mixing the bicarbonate of soda (or baking soda) with the boric acid and sodium borate in the contact lens solution and when it comes in contact with the PVA glue the mixture gradually begins to thicken and turns into a viscous, gooey mass.
This is because when the polyvinyl alcohol is combined with borate ion they undergo a chemical reaction called an endothermic reaction. An endothermic reaction absorbs heat energy and we can see this at work when the slime goes cold! It also creates a non-newtonian fluid. The amazing thing about non-newtonian fluids is that they are neither a solid or a liquid, you can pick slime up like a solid but it will slide through your fingers like a liquid. Slime also does not have its own shape so it can change to fit whatever container it is in. Yet, because of its elasticity, it can be bounced like a ball. Using these examples you can demonstrate how the viscosity of non-newtonian fluids change and teach the properties of liquids and solids.
You can play around with the quantities of these ingredients, in particular, the contact lens solution, to create slimes with different viscosities. The more contact lens solution you add the thicker the slime becomes and vice versa, the less you add the oozier it becomes. I didn’t add enough contact lens solution to my initial batch of slime and found that it kept sticking to my fingers! Ask your students or kids which ingredient they think they would need to add more of to make their slime more like a liquid or solid.
You can even introduce this as an experiment into your science lesson by having them test out slightly different variations of the basic slime recipe below and record the results. Slime is great for discussing the properties of materials for this reason. Try it out by tugging it sharply which will cause the slime to break, yet if you gently pull it the slime will stretch out.
Below is the basic slime recipe, remember to lay down a protective mat or cloth to protect your surfaces! If you want to make your slime extra special you can always add glitter, sequins or glow in the dark paint. You can even add foaming shaving cream to make the slime go poofy and fluffy! To store keep it in an airtight container and you can keep it in the fridge to help prevent it from drying out.
The Perfect Slime Recipe
Ingredients
230ml (1 cup) of PVA glue
115ml (½ cup) of water
2 drops of your favourite food colour
1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1 tbsp of contact lens solution containing boric acid and sodium borate
Method
Ideas for other Scientific investigations? Let us know in the comments.
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