“It’s Like I’m Really There”: Using VR Experiences for STEM Career Development

Research suggests that the likelihood of students entering into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers can be increased by promoting and maintaining students’ interest in STEM during middle school years, a critical developmental stage when students’ interests begin to solidify. One way to attract students to STEM is through technology-enhanced learning environments and experiences, which can spark and cultivate the long-term interest needed to pursue STEM careers. Virtual reality (VR) can potentially increase access to such STEM-related experiences for all students due to its educational and technological affordances. Currently, there has been little exploration of the intersection between VR and career development for K-12 students. This study, therefore, aims to address this gap by exploring the use of VR 360 videos for STEM career exploration. Data were collected using focus group interviews with 39 primarily Latinx middle school students who participated in the summer enrichment program. These interviews were conducted immediately after a VR 360 video activity that featured female characters and/or characters from racial minorities in order to best support students who are underrepresented in STEM fields. The findings support the potential of VR as a tool for career development as long as content, possible physical side effects, and scaffolding are considered. The implications for research and practice are discussed.

     

基于DeepPose和Faster RCNN的多目标人体骨骼节点检测算法

近年来,随着计算机视觉技术的不断发展,深度学习技术在人体关节节点检测中得到了很好的应用。但是由于人体关节结构复杂,关节之间存在相互依赖的关系和互相遮挡的问题,因此人体骨骼节点检测依然是一个极具挑战的任务。传统的模型难以预测多个目标的骨骼节点,为了解决这个问题,提出一种基于Faster RCNN和DeepPose相结合的方法,首先通过Faster RCNN检测出包含人体的感兴趣区域,并将该区域作为改进的DeepPose算法的输入,使其能够处理多目标关节节点检测的问题。实验表明,该算法在MPII数据集的手腕、膝盖两种关键节点检测上均取得最好结果,比之前的最好结果各提升1.2%和0.3%,在全部的关键节点检测上PCKh为87.6%。