Multilingual immersive communication technology: repurposing virtual reality for Italian teaching

This paper will report on a pilot Virtual Reality (VR) project which repurposes an existing scenario-based VR asset for health sciences. The original scenario aims to prepare health care students for home visits by allowing them to experience a semi-linear conversation with a virtual Non-Player Character (NPC). This provides a safe, non-threatening environment for students to hone the necessary skills they will need once they begin their professional careers. The NPC’s simulated emotional state and reactions are changed based on the student’s choice of responses. The original scenario was written in English but the opportunity to convert it into an Italian language learning resource by changing the audio files was identified and implemented. The scenario involves learners to be recurrently selecting from a number of possible responses in order to help the virtual character with his grievances regarding his father’s care package. 1. Coventry University, Coventry, England; b.brick@coventry.ac.uk; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2256-7046 2. Coventry University, Coventry, England; t.cervi@coventry.ac.uk; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2754-5460 3. Coventry University, Coventry, England; hsx494@coventry.ac.uk; https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0635-7070 4. Coventry University, Coventry, England; ac1576@coventry.ac.uk 5. Coventry University, Coventry, England; ab8703@coventry.ac.uk; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5603-7564 6. Coventry University, Coventry, England; hsx324@coventry.ac.uk 7. Coventry University, Coventry, England; aa7896@coventry.ac.uk How to cite this chapter: Brick, B., Cervi-Wilson, T., Graham, S., Tsankov, T., Loizou. M., Godson, N., & Ryan, K. (2019). Multilingual immersive communication technology: repurposing virtual reality for Italian teaching. In A. Plutino, K. Borthwick & E. Corradini (Eds), New educational landscapes: innovative perspectives in language learning and technology (pp. 5-10). Research-publishing.net. https://doi.org/10.14705/rpnet.2019.36.949