Application of immersive technologies for education: State of the art

Existing multimedia systems used in education mostly address only two senses by using two communication channels (visual and audio) of the five human senses (sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch), limiting the potential efficiency of learning. This paper presents a survey on existing technical opportunities for the development of an immersive learning environment. Four components of the immersive environment - visual, audio, olfactory, and haptic are described and discussed in the paper. In particular 3D displays, head mounted devices, 3D sound systems, olfactory displays, haptic devices, and interaction devices are presented.