A Study on Real/Virtual Relationships Through a Mobile Augmented Reality Application

The increasing adoption of mobile devices and their impact on the processes of conceptualization are affecting the educational field enhancing interest in the educational use of these devices and, specifically, in the potentialities of augmented reality applications. Several studies have recently been developed to investigate this area and the gap that currently exists between technological development, the conceptualization of the real/virtual relationship and the reflection on the way in which these applications impact different learning contexts. A qualitative research study was developed by the Department of Education, Cultural Heritage and Tourism of the University of Macerata along with a primary school teacher following a collaborative model framed in a naturalistic paradigm. The overall research goal was to make explicit the nature of “mixed reality” in which the student acts within the real-virtual continuum, and the role played by technological means in such a process. Specifically, a mobile augmented reality application, “Point at”, was investigated. Once installed on iPads, the application allows the recognition of physical objects and activates a web resource connected to the object.