The team of ITS lecturers behind the research for ImmersITS

ITS Campus, ITS News – Quality, inclusive and equitable education for all people is one of the 17 sustainable development goals or SDGs. To support the increase of digital transformation in education, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) lecturer team designed an immersive online learning module called ImmersITS.

One of the team members, Okta Putra Setio Ardianto ST MT, said that ImmersITS is an immersive classroom application that the users can access online based on 6 DoF Virtual Reality (VR) technology. This application can be accessed using a PC desktop that allows educators and students to meet in a virtual space as completely as in a physical room.

ImmersITS, according to Okta, is a new, more immersive form of the internet which is often called the metaverse. “This immersive learning implements prospective future technology so that ITS soon can apply sustainable online education while at the same time contributing to the achievement of the SDGs,” said the lecturer of the ITS Interior Design Department.

Illustration of the ImmersITS application designed by the ITS lecturer team

Okta revealed the lecturer team took three significant steps before designing this ImmersITS. The first is an initial survey of technology, platform, course mapping, and application module systems. “For the second step, application development consists of creating virtual environments, 2D and 3D assets, and programming application systems,” he explained.

Meanwhile, the last step, he continued, is evaluating the application, which consists of laboratory-scale trials, limited users, and exhibitions. The plan is that this learning module will soon be applied to the online learning system at ITS and a scale outside ITS through a downstreaming scheme of research products into innovative products.

This research, which has been studied since mid-2021, is predicted to make users feel as if they ‘present and meet’ when using the VR feature. “This is the main point as well as the interesting thing,” he said enthusiastically.

ImmersITS trial in the laboratory

Although previously there have been many studies that have discussed this topic, the prototypes developed by the ITS team appear with different usage options. “Because apart from being accessible through VR, the users can access this prototype via a desktop PC so that technology adoption can be fast and widespread,” he explained.

The ImmersITS learning module, which is the result of ITS’ Intelligent Online Learning flagship research, was completed thanks to the role of the Research Consortium Coordinator Bagus Jati Santoso SKom PhD, Research Chair Anggra Ayu Rucitra ST MMT, and team members consisting of Okta Putra Setio Ardianto ST MT, Putri Dwitasari ST MDs, and Putu Dana Karningsih ST MEngSc PhD. “Besides that, there is also a team of programmers and research assistant students who are involved in this research,” he said.

Deputy Governor of East Java Emil Elestianto Dardak tried the ImmersITS application by wearing VR glasses in ITS

According to Okta, remote teamwork is a significant challenge amid the current state of the dynamic condition of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the future, Okta and the team are targeting to perfect ImmersITS so the academics can immediately apply it at ITS and other places. “We hope that this research can contribute to the quality and sustainable online education,” he concluded. (ITS Public Relations)

Reporter: Erchi Ad’ha Loyensya