Fly's Eye View: an investigation of the impact of the experience of using a VR system on young children's understanding of representation and reality

Abstract

A discussion of research carried out in Wales introducing young (KS2) children to a virtual reality based artwork and educational experience, and discussion of its ontological implications. The book in which the chapter appears was based on an Invitational Symposium held at Ascona, Switzerland in April 2004 and focussed around the "Culture of the Artificial". The chapter describes investigations into children’s creative responses to the challenge of issues regarding representation and reality. The children and their teachers experienced a view of the world mediated as "seen" by a virtual reality dragonfly and then worked with digital photography to investigate the ways in which perceptions might be manipulated and influenced.