D is for Desktop VR

Have you heard people talking about desktop VR and wondered what it is? Or perhaps you have read about comparisons between immersive VR with non-immersive VR. Read on to find out what these terms mean and how this helps or hinders language learning in VR.

What is desktop VR?

Desktop VR is a VR platform that can be accessed, as the name suggests, with a desktop or laptop computer. There is no need for a VR headset, but unlike with WebXR, you do have to download the app. A good example for such a platform is Second Life, which was launched in 2003, when mobile, wireless, affordable consumer-grade VR headsets were not yet available. Even newer VR platforms, such as Minecraft, Roblox, Fortnite, often exist as desktop version, or are also available for desktop.

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Desktop VR is immersive

Some VR purists will not accept desktop VR as virtual reality at all. For them, these are just 2D virtual worlds. Those who do accept desktop VR as virtual reality, will frequently say that desktop VR is non- or low-immersive. I can say from my own and other people’s experiences that this is nonsense. Just because it is widely defined as such does not make it true. There is a lot more to immersion! You will hear me say this often, and I will not get tired of it. What you cannot achieve through technical immersion, can be achieved through activities that make use of social or narrative immersion. The quality and design of the platform and learning experiences plays a much bigger part of which type of VR is more immersive.

Desktop VR meets Headset VR

Interestingly, users who join a VR through desktop and those who join with their headset can meet in the same virtual space. They will, however, experience the virtual more or less differently, and their interactions and capabilities will also differ. Here are some of the main differences:

• With a VR headset the user is fully surrounded by the virtual environment as if they are standing in the middle of it. The headset blocks out the view of their physical surroundings. Desktop users see the virtual world on a 2D screen and so can still see the physical space around them. In other words, when a person wearing a VR headset turns their head around, they see the virtual environment, whereas a desktop user sees their physical environment.
• VR headset users interact with the virtual environment, objects and other users with their hand controllers and their actual physical body movements, while desktop users do this with their computer keyboard.
• Because the VR headset blocks out the physical world, typing in VR is cumbersome. Whereas desktop users can easily do so with their keyboards.
• Similarly, taking notes while wearing a VR headset is difficult while it is easily possible with desktop VR. 

How does desktop VR help with immersive language learning in VR?

Accessibility

The immediate reason that comes to mind is that desktop VR is much more widely accessible than HMD (Head-mounted display) VR. It’s not only because of the cost of the headset. Many people (and apparently women more than men) frequently feel nauseous when using a VR headset. Other people don’t feel safe when wearing one because it blocks out their view from their surroundings. What can be a benefit in terms of immersion, focus, and embodied learning can feel unsafe when looked at it from this perspective.

Wearing a headset for a long time is also not all too comfortable. Then there are issues such as batteries going flat during an experience, and privacy issues. And people with certain disabilities cannot use VR headsets, for example, because they cannot use the hand controllers or cannot move their head.

Text input via keyboard

Desktop VR allows for input in voice and text. This has several benefits. First, like above, it can make it more accessible.

Second, because desktop VR is controlled via a keyboard and the view isn’t blocked by a VR headset, users can type. This has a lot of advantages for language learning. It can be used for all sorts of language activities, for posting prompts, asking questions, clarifying spelling, and a lot more. I had students in a course who did not want to use voice chat because his wife was sleeping in the same room he was attending class from. 

It also allows learners who are shy to speak up to still contribute their answer or opinion in text chat. But it is, of course, important to not overdo this and eventually get speaking. The teacher could ask a shy student to use voice when they see the student’s answer in text chat is correct, for example. 

Third, if a participant has a problem with the voice technology, they can still participate in the lesson as long as they can hear.

Fourth, compared to the physical classroom and headset VR, desktop VR allows for more students to participate in a discussion or share their answers at the same time through text chat. Normally, the teacher has to call on one student at a time.

Fifth, desktop VR allows learners to take notes during their VR lessons. This can be good for learning, but sometimes also counter-productive. Instead, it might be much better to use alternative ways of ‘note-taking’ for immersive learning.

But:

On the other hand, without the option of text chat, as in headset VR, learners have to listen more attentively to understand. They also have speak (= pronounce) more carefully so other learners can understand them better. Both of these can help learners improve their listening and speaking skills. In fact, there is research that shows that learners’ pronunciation was better in a VR environment than in the classroom.

Building is more easily possible

Desktop VR in many cases allows users to be creative and build their own worlds, games and 3D objects much more easily and without coding knowledge. You can harness this feature for many fun and engaging language learning activities that give learners agency.

Example

In a lesson on describing what is happening (e.g. to practise the present perfect), a pair or group of students act out a task from a prompt card in front of the others in the VR environment. The others type in chat text what they think is happening. You can accept one-word responses (e.g. arguing, buying) but then elicit longer descriptions in voice. 

If only some of your students are using desktop VR, you could have the VR headset students do the acting out and the others typing. But generally, unless all students can switch between the two modes, it is not the best idea to separate tasks by the device that students are using.

Put your knowledge into action!

Language educator

Can you think of activities that would work better on a desktop VR or headset VR? Where do you see the benefits of each? How would you make use of text chat in VR?

Language learner

Do you have experience with using VR through a headset and a computer? Which one do you prefer? Does it depend on the task, situation or other factors?

Edtech company

Think about how learners and teachers will interact with each other if they access your platform in one or both modes.

Talk to teachers and learners what they need to be able to do in a language learning session to inform your product design.

Think about where there are limits in interactions or tools on your platform. How can you overcome these? Could you even turn them into benefits using clever task designs.