Visual Literacy
Rock Art to Understand Visual Literacy and Cultural Heritage
Working with UNESCO Mexico during 2017-2020, I developed a series of research experiments to evaluate and learn about visual literacy with preschool students in Mexico.
The project originated from the need to learn the characteristics of information acquisition throughout images in preschool students (~4 years old). Since children that age have not acquired prior literacy skills, the study closely observed the processes in which they acquire visual information in order to understand the communication patterns that resulted from the exposure to rich visual information.
The research team designed a series of projects to scaffold HCI work in embodiment, and to promote higher cognitive skills. Students observed and interpreted visual information from contemporary, and rock art — generated thousands of years ago with limited tools— which include very precise and specific traces that enrich human perception to very basic interpretation of simple and concrete images.
Traveling to a cave imprinted with rock art paintings is a privilege for most people, and access to these remote places has become more limited due to preservation and conservation requirements for cultural heritage purposes. Immersive learning environments provide a potential to extend these spaces and bring users to places that are geographically difficult to visit.
The use of AR and 3D virtual environments for learning promotes and extends active learning; when students use their body and manipulate a mobile device, they change their posture and location in physical space by moving around surrounding objects to augment virtual contents. The use of physical gestures involves higher order cognitive activities like thinking, reflecting and reasoning.
Technology: AR application – Unity 3D, Eye-tracking – Tobii, BMI, HR monitoring systems, iOS.