It’s part of everyone’s experience: learning is more effective and lasting when it happens through observation. And what if it’s combined with fun?
During the summer, I visited one of the museums in the area where I spent a few days on vacation. One of the rooms offered a visual journey “on the back of a whale,” thanks to the possibility of wearing an immersive multimedia headset. On my journey, I learned more about the coasts of the area where I was staying, discovered the local biodiversity, and observed the creatures that inhabit this sea, exploring it “underwater” from a perspective that, as a mere limited human being, I could never have experienced otherwise.
As naturally curious beings, we love discovering new things, and we often do so by observing: images engage us and transport us to other worlds. This is the principle behind the infotainment industry. Thanks to infotainment, even those who hate science can find it thrilling to visit a planetarium and be mesmerized by black holes and big bangs in 4K laser resolution, complete with an epic soundtrack.
Museums and art galleries have also figured this out: a display case of artifacts has immense value, but when communicated through images and a spectacular projection, it becomes easier to understand and remember. The same approach is now found in education: smart classrooms are changing the way we teach, not just with interactive screens replacing old blackboards, but with learning methods inspired by infotainment. Today, 3D visualization isn’t just the stuff of sci-fi movies, but a daily reality in universities: medical students simulate surgeries, engineers test complex projects, and future physicists explore the subatomic world.
At the end of the day, learning means seeing things in a different way. So, if technology offers us new tools and methods, we can expect the world to keep surprising us.
