Having presented twice this morning at the July Microsoft Edumeet it was great to kick back and be firmly in the learners seat. I joined a session with the fabulous Megan Townes. The focus of the workshop was Microsoft Paint 3D, Mixed reality viewer and the photos app. It’s interesting to see how Microsoft are moving towards “apps” that come with Windows 10. They’ve already changed the way in which the operating system updates. You can’t opt to delay your updates anymore. Just like your phones, it just happens. Megan shared that this was as a result of over 80% windows users skipping updates.
Paint 3D and Mixed Reality viewer appeared as part of the Windows 10 ecosystem in the last 2 or 3 updates. When worked together the apps help you to create 3D objects that you can then place into your world using your devices camera and the Mixed Reality app. It’s a little like a Hololens experience but much cheaper!
The first task we completed was to make a 3D monster in Paint 3D
Microsoft Monster
- Open Paint 3D
- Click “New” to get new canvas
- Click “3D shapes”, choose the sphere, select your colour and draw on the canvas
- Now add some 3D squiggles and keep drawing
- Select the lot with left click and drag. Group. Do this a lot! So that things stay where they are supposed to be.
- Use the stickers to find Eyes, glasses etc If you’ve drawn 3D objects on top of 3d objects, when you use the stickers they might go behind because the app is trying to add them to the object behind. keep wiggling it until it’s on the right 3d shape.
What’s super cool is that you can export these art works (check out my masterpiece!) in three different 3D print formats. Your students can create object here and print them at school or the local library. If you want to use your 3D monster in your own real environment, click the “Mixed Reality” Button and he’ll be placed into your world via your camera. You can drag him around – he follows your click. You also have the option to record stop animations with the video camera or take photos (like the one above)
How could this be used?
3D set design – The first thing I thought about (which made me excited) was using this as a way to help hem design and create 3D sets for the play scripts we read. We could play with sound, mis-en-scene etc all within this app. Groups of students could be creating the set to pull out different themes or ideas and it could become extremely rich. Being able to then take this and use then show these models in PowerPoint using the new 3D presentation integration features available there.
Of course, there are obvious connections to early years maths with 3D shapes etc. I need to think a little more about how I could use this in my setting at Flinders. Perhaps it’s something I can show them and ask them to make the connections to the content and pedagogy of their setting? With it’s ability to use mixed reality it could be argued that it fits nicely within one of the four domains of enagement – giving opportunities for the content to personalised and placed into every day contexts. I wonder if you could use it to make virtual MVP of a design in design technologies? It would be a great, quick way of looking at proportion etc and getting some feedback on initial thoughts for the design thinking elements of the process. Of course, being able to print it could lend itself to even more opportunities for “real life” and personalised engagement too.
