How to Design Virtual Video Production for Augmented Student Presentations

e-Learning environments have been developed and used by teachers and learners for decades. However, it is well known that sending, recording or meeting online can have a lack of presence and immersion. Furthermore, the configuration of a studio environment typically depends on physical props and technologies, which can be time consuming and hard to use for teaching purposes where each session may need a different configuration. Virtual Video Production (VVP) is a relatively new technology that builds on advances in extended reality (XR), supported by game engines and computer-controlled camera equipment. Camera data (pan, tilt, zoom, position) can be sent to a virtual camera in the game engine. The scene can be rendered via a green screen or with large LED displays. This provides an immersive presence with virtual 3D objects positioned in the room. Light settings can be mixed into the scene with remote control of LED lights to be in sync with virtual lights. Thus, VVP opens many opportunities for more immersive e-learning experiences. The challenge is how to apply these opportunities that involve syncing of several technical components and layers, designed to be useful within limited course resources. The question in this paper is how VVP can be designed and set up in an easy way for teachers and students to use it for presentations in courses? This paper presents results from a course in Immersive Environments where students first developed mobile Augmented Reality app prototypes and then used VVP to present their final work together with the authors. The authors documented preparation, wrote instructions for students and observed with notes taken during recording sessions. The results show how VVP can be designed and set up for course presentations that goes beyond a plain video recording in a lecture room or at home, but also beyond what was previously possible in a video studio at the university. This includes e.g., technical setup, direction of students, synopsis, concepts and virtual 3D props. Finally, the authors draw conclusions of what challenges remain for future research and suggestions of how to overcome them.