Dr. Bjarke Maigaard Pedersen
Post Doctoral Researcher
Bjarke has a background as a civil engineer in Learning and Experience Technology with a PhD in Educational Robotics, and possess a unique blend of technical prowess, creative insight, and passion for play and education, allowing him the privilege of combining his creative and tinkering hobbies with his profession.
Making STEM gender-inclusive through curricula and volunteer work
Throughout his academic and professional journey, Bjarke has consistently focused on the development and implementation of educational technologies, and the accompanying learning materials. Both through research and the technical process, ranging from the hardware to software architecture, UI-/UX-design, and learning didactics. In addition, Bjarke has specialized in developing gender-inclusive STEM curricula for primary education, striving to address and minimize the existing gender disparities in the within the field.
As a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Game Development and Learning Technologies unit, he has been involved in multiple education-centric EU projects, including PANaMa, DiASper, and LeADS. Further enhancing Bjarke’s engagement within the field, he has been a volunteer teacher at “Teknologiskolen” since its inception in 2015, where he has also created and is responsible for teaching the weekly ‘Robot Girls’ classes, and the all-girls team at their annual summer camp.
Augmented Virtuality – Making it Real
Bjarke’s current research is focused on the Virtual Continuum and the possibilities offered within, especially those found inside the realm of Augmented Virtuality (AV). Imaging the endless possibilities offered by existing inside a virtual world while interacting with aspects and components from the real world. It is enticing to say the least for both industry and entertainment purposes. AV training of heavy machinery would enable trainees to interact with a real-world interface, while inside a purely virtual-world, effectively decoupling the consequences of errors while maintaining the tangible aspects of learning to operate the machinery. Or, you could find yourself fully emerged inside a virtual cockpit of a Star Wars Pod-Racer, while frantically pulling and hitting real-life handles and switches as you desperately swoop around the desert landscape of Tatooine with a 1000 miles per hours.
While the possibilities and ideas are endless Augmented Virtuality is unfortunately still an under researched field, when compared to Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, due to the complications of synchronizing real-world objects into the virtual space. For this purpose, Bjarke’s research currently focus on developing a modular system for Augmented Virtuality designed to spark the next generation of AV research and application development. The system automatically handles the synchronization between the real- and virtual-world objects, and by doing so aims to provide fellow researchers and developers with easy access to develop new AV applications of their own.
Image reference: Leveraging Mixed Reality Technologies to Enhance Museum Visitor Experiences, Stella Sylaiou et al (2018).
Partnerships and collaborations
Publications
Research Interests
- Educational robots
- Robotics
- Educational technologies
- Taxonomies
- Augmented Virtuality
- Virtual Reality
- Teaching and Learning Processes
- Curriculum Development
Current projects
Tangible VR: Blending Physical Interaction with Virtual Training
In the realm of virtual reality (VR) training, Tangible VR stands out as a groundbreaking project that bridges the gap between digital simulations and physical interaction. This innovative approach integrates real physical structures—like buttons, handles, and tables—into the VR environment. Tangible VR thereby transforms the training experience, allowing the user to interact with physical elements while fully immersed inside a virtual world. The key to this integration is the combination of advanced hand tracking technology, real/virtual world synchronization and microcontroller technology providing sensor feedback.
Traditional VR training often relies on controllers, or hand-tracking while users wave their hands in thin air, limiting the naturalness and intuitiveness of interactions. By contrast, Tangible VR offers a more immersive and realistic experience, making it ideal for skills development in various fields, such as production industries and industries involving heavy machinery.
Trainees can manipulate actual objects, enhancing muscle memory and spatial awareness in a way that traditional VR cannot match.
Moreover, Tangible VR combines the flexibility and safety of a virtual environment with the tactile feedback of real-world objects. This dual approach allows for a broader range of training scenarios, from routine crane operations to high-risk manoeuvrer training, without the associated real-world risks or costs. It represents a significant step forward in VR training, promising more effective learning outcomes and a deeper level of engagement for users.
DiASper
DiASper is a collaborative project, between the German university IPN Kiel and the Danish university SDU, whose goal is to integrate the digital workplace into the public-school education. In other words, the focus of the project is to translate the demands of the modern digital workplace and integrate them in the learning context of education, for instance in classes such as math, physics, informatics, or technology understanding.
In English DiASper stands for ‘the digital workplace from the school’s perspective’ and the project contributes to orientate and prepare students a digital work life. The counterpart at SDU is responsible for the technological education, whereas IPN Kiel is responsible for the mathematical education. A good example is 3D printing that requires a combination of understanding both math and how this particular technology works.
To implement technology in education, both counterparts collaborate with local public schools in Southern Denmark and Slesvig-Holsten in Germany in order to ensure that digital competencies becomes a continuous aspect of their education instead of being limited to singular activities. The project is supported by EU’s Interreg-program 5a, which supports projects across countries with focus on labor market, employment and education.
Teaching across the Metaverse
Bjarke’s multidisciplinary engineering background enables him to teach a wide range of courses, ranging from hardware-oriented courses focusing on harnessing the power of microcontroller technology, to online multiplayer game development, while delving into edge blending areas like IoT and Digital Twins, and vital subjects like Play and Learning, Computational Thinking, and Social Technologies.
Courses
Programming of Robots and other Physical Devices
Social Technology Lab 1 and 3 strengthens the students’ creative and technical competences in the field of development of 3D computer games and simulations.
3D Programming 3
Hardware and Robot Technology 1 and 2 (Hardware and robot technology) introduces the students to digital electronics and gives them fundamental understanding of circuitry and its components, enabling them to design digital circuitry both in theory and in practice.
Programming of Hardware and Robot Technology for Playing and Learning purposes
Introduction to Web Programming
