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Augmented Reality
During the last years, researchers and engineers have been using information technology, personal computers, tablets and even smart phones in order to take images out of TV sets and computer screens and integrate them into real life environments. Such technology, the Augmented Reality as it was called, makes the line between real life and computer generated reality disappear and augments what one can see, hear, feel or smell.
AR is a concept that implies augmenting the environment perception for an observer by means of various elements supplementation that enhance the cognitive process.
AR means either direct or indirect live seeing of physical real environment whose elements have been enhanced by computer generated sensor input such as sound, video, graphic or Global Positioning System (GPS) information.
AR is a process that makes virtual reality overlap real hard-core world such that it can be sensed with the naked eye. This word may have recently appeared, however it is being used more and more as a consequence of the development of augmenting technology that expands and adds on new components to the physical reality we live in. Given that one can sense reality through the five senses, and sight and hearing are the most important, and one cannot directly modify reality (i.e. one can see what one can see and one can hear what one can hear), the result is that reality expansion can only be done by the intermediary of an environment acting between reality and the organ of perception (eye, ear).
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Additive manufacturing
The idea, now considered simple and straightforward, by which any object can be built superposing layers of materials (i.e. in an additive way) differs from the traditional manufacturing processes which use material distribution (such as injection molding, casting, rolling, forging, etc.) or material removal (such as drilling, turning, milling, grinding, etc.).
According to ISO/ASTM 52900:2015 standard, Additive Manufacturing (AM) represents the “process of joining materials to make parts from 3D model data, usually layer upon layer, as opposed to subtractive manufacturing and formative manufacturing methodologies”.
That is to say any 3D object can be created by putting thin layers (2½D) of material one on the top of the other until the object is completely built. How these layers are formed and how layers adhere to each other depends on the process type and material – details being presented in the next section dedicated to AM processes.
Other names by which AM technology is known are: Rapid Prototyping (the initial term used for this group of processes, related to the fact that the first manufactured objects were prototypes, a paradigm switch towards Rapid Manufacturing being made after 2002 when the number of metallic functional parts manufactured raised substantially, but evidently not reaching the mass production level, 3D Printing (usually referring to low-cost systems), Layer-by-layer Manufacturing, Layered Fabrication, Direct Manufacturing, Direct Digital Manufacturing or Solid Freeform Fabrication.
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Project no. 2016-1-RO01-KA202-024578Training in 3D Printing To Foster EU Innovation & Creativity - 3DP |
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3D printing (3D-P) has a large effect on creativity and innovation and it has identified by EU as one of the technologies that will boost the development of future products and services. The EU 3D-P market is expected to grow rapidly, creating new jobs that requires new skills and qualifications. As the development of these skills is not commonly supported by VET programs, there is an urgent need for teaching tools dedicated to 3D-P.
Main objective
The project aims to give people the opportunity to develop their skills in 3D printing and to acquire the knowledge that allows them to activate in this field, like employee, entrepreneur, trainer, intermediary, etc. It is addressed to organizations, companies and persons interested to use or to support others to use the 3D printing revolution, in various domains: education, industry, art, entrepreneurship, intermediation, law, politics, finance, etc. The partners will develop a 3D printing curricula with courseware, a trainer guideline and an e-learning platform. They will be available in 6 languages (English, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Romanian and Lithuanian), free and open to all.
Partners
Ludor Engineering, RO
Universitatea Politehnica din Bucuresti, centrul CAMIS, RO
Centro de Formación Somorrostro, ES
Danmar Computers, PL
MECB Ltd, MT
Public institution Information Technologies Institute (ITI), LT
Liceul Teoretic de Informatica „Grigore Moisil“ Iasi, RO
GoDesk, IT
Northern Lithuania College, LT
The project is addressing the following target groups:
At local/regional level:
- VET organisations, educational organizations with VET activities; VET students willing to enhance their creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit
- Companies, in particular SMEs, engaging in design or related industries, and relevant key staff in those industries (industrial design, architecture, home and office design, etc.) to boost their entrepreneurial spirit and their innovation and creativity
- Post-tertiary graduates in the fields of design, engineering, architecture, who are willing to enhance their knowledge and skills base before starting their career in industry;
- Intermediaries and intermediary organizations, Industrial Liaison Offices of universities, research and technology centres (RTC), as well as their key staff;
At National and EU level: VET providers, regional development agencies, political decision makers, chambers of commerce and industry, industrial associations, foundations relating to design and 3D printing, capital investors, patent attorneys etc.
As the study shows, all 6 countries share the same problem – growing requirement for 3D-P skills and education systems not prepared for the challenge. The partnership strongly believe that the project needs to be carried out transnationally in order to take advantage on the synergy created by the right mixt of education, business and public organizations from countries with different and complementary experiences. Also, we believe that the same problem is present in the entire European Union and the project results could be further used at European level.
Main results
IO1. Guidelines and case-studies on the use of 3D printing in VET education
IO2. Curricula of 3DP course
IO3. 3DP courseware, English
IO4. 3DP trainer guidelines, English
IO5. 3DP courseware, multilingual
IO6. P3DP trainer guidelines, multilingual
IO7. 3DP learning management system (e-learning), multilingual
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Erasmus+ Project No. 2017-1-MT01-KA204-026949 funded by EUPA MaltaVirtual & Augmented Reality Trainers Toolbox to Enable Adults Catch Up With Life Skills
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The main aim of this Erasmus+ Project called VITA (Virtual & Augmented Reality Trainers Toolbox to Enable Adults Catch Up With Life Skills) is to develop a novel toolbox by which Adult Trainers can attract, reach out and assist adult learners to catch up with 21st Century life skills and in particular digital literacy. The project is funded under the Eramsus+ Programme through Malta's National Agency EUPA. It will run for 24 months between 2nd October 2017 and 1st October 2019. VITA involves 5 partners coming from the Czech Republic, Greece, Malta and Romania. To achieve its overall aim, the VITA project consortium has set a number of objectives and aims to address the following target groups:
OB1: To understand the training needs of adult learners in the partner countries with respect to 21st Century life skills.
OB2: To develop a Curriculum targeted at engaging adults to learn 21st Century life skills.
OB3: To develop a set of case-studies exploiting VAR technology to both attract and engage adults to catch up and learn 21st Century life skills.
O4: To develop an innovative VAR-based toolbox which provides EU Adult Trainers with a set of resources including case-studies, demos and e-learning content to allow them to both attract and engage adult learners in learning 21st Century life skills.
OB5: To evaluate the VAR-based toolbox with a set of Adult Trainers in one of the partner countries.
OB6: To disseminate & exploit the results of the VITA project and in particular ensure that the innovative VAR training toolbox is openly available to at least 1000 other Adult Trainers across Europe.
Target Groups
As its audience, the VITA project will address the following target groups:
TG1: The primary Target group consists of EU Adult trainers as these will be able to exploit the VITA training toolbox to help adult learners to acquire Century life Skills.
TG2: The secondary target group consists of Adult learners that need a second chance of catching up with 21st Century.
TG3: The third group consists of stakeholders related to the Adult Education sector including policy makers and managers that can influence the direction of adult training.
The VITA project partners have been chosen in such a way as to ensure a good balance between experts in Adult Education pedagogy, second chance training/learning and curriculum development, digital literacy, Virtual & Augmented Reality technology as well as stakeholders from the social sector. VITA thus brings together a number of European entities ranging from Adult Training Institutions, public HEI, private VAR technology service providers and social enterpirse to collectively develop a VAR based training toolbox targeted at engaging adult learners to acquire 21st Century skills and in particular digital literacy:
- MECB LTD Malta
- UPB-CAMIS, Romania
- Drosostalida Social Enterprise Athens, Greece
- Malta Business Bureau B'Kara, Malta
- RPIC-ViP Ostrava, Czech Republic
For more information, please visit the VITA project website.