VOICE TRAINING AS A KEY COMPETENCE FOR STUDENTS IN TEACHER TRAINING - BENEFITTING FROM A VIRTUAL REALITY CLASSROOM IN HIGHER EDUCATION - PART 2 - TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION

Oct 15, 2026

The project “Making voice and Presence a Virtual Realistic Experience” created a teaching concept for student teacher training at the University of Giessen, including physiologically sound voice learning and transfer to professional practice. A virtual classroom with avatars of noisy school children was built to support breathing, posture, articulation, and physiological voice enhancement from syllable to spontaneous speech. Using VR headsets, student teachers practice in realistic settings under a speech scientist’s guidance. Technical implementation applied agile software engineering, selecting suitable tools after online research, and describing the technical approach and software techniques.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Software Engineering Introduction

Selection of the Procedure Model

Software Specification

Software Development

Software Validation

Software Maintenance

VOICE TRAINING AS A KEY COMPETENCE FOR STUDENTS IN TEACHER TRAINING ~~ ~~ BENEFITTING FROM AVIRTUAL REALITY CLASSROOM IN HIGHER EDUCATION. PART 2-TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION Dr. Ulrike Nespital 1 Gerald Czerney 2 1, 2 Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany ABSTRACT The project "Making voice and Presence a Virtual Realistic Experience" is - Center for Foreign Language and Occupational Competencies (German: ZfbK) atthe University of Giessen, a teaching concept for student teacher training was developed that includes both the learning and use of a physiologically sound voice and offers transfer to professional practice. For this purpose, a virtual classroom featuring avatars of noisy school children was developed. The teaching concept includes exercises on breathing, posture, articulation and physiological voice enhancement at the syllable, word, sentence and text levels, up to spontaneous speech. Utilizing virtual reality (VR) headsets, student teachers practice these exercises in a realistic classroom environment under the guidance of a speech scientist. The ultimate objective is to enable future teachers to naturally and physiologically modulate their voice in professional settings. Technical implementation relied on contemporary, agile software development methodologies. After extensive online research, specific software tools were chosen for successful project execution. This paper discusses both the technical approach and the software techniques and tools employed. Keywords: voice training, virtual reality headset, technical implementation INTRODUCTION The objective of this article is to further explain the methodology employed ribes the implemented software -by-step realization and progressive value-added stages. Furthermore, this article presents the fundamentals of virtual reality (hereafter abbreviated as VR) and the technical background relevant to the project. Agile software engineering methods were adopted, with Ian th edition (2018), serving as the foundational text [1] . Dr. Nespital evaluated various VR headsets to select appropriate hardware for the project. The choice fell on Pico Neo 3 Pro [4] . Decisive criteria in favour of the unit were: lightweight construction of the device capability to run standalone applications and no need for physical connections like cables to a remote host The VR headset operates on an Android operating system, commonly used by various smartphone manufacturers, which allows for convenient software installation via APK files. SOFTWARE ENGINEERING INTRODUCTION Internet research indicated the absence of any existing software applications meeting the project's specific requirements, necessitating bespoke software development. Accordingly, a software development project was planned. As Sommerville notes in his 2018 publication, software systems, being abstract and intangible, can quickly become complex, difficult to navigate, and hence challenging to maintain. To manage this complexity, the use of structured software engineering methods is essential [1] . The core activities include [1]: Software specification: Definitions ofthe software requirement and the framework for its deployment. Software development: Building the software using one or more software tools. Software validation: Ensuring that the created software corresponds to the requirements and functions error-free. Software maintenance: Further development and refactoring (revision of the product) of the software in order to adapt it to changing requirements. The following product characteristics were considered when planning the software project [1]: Acceptability: The user of the software must be able to operate and use it comfortably and easily. Reliability: The software must be created to be reliable, information and operationally secure. Efficiency: The software shall be designed to be resource efficient in terms of system resources such as micr

FAQs

What learning activities does the virtual reality teaching concept support for voice training?

It supports breathing, posture, articulation, and physiological voice enhancement from syllable and word levels up to sentence and text practice, ending in spontaneous speech.

Why was an incremental software development approach chosen for the project?

Only rough requirements were available initially, so the incremental approach enabled rapid and flexible responses as requirements were re-evaluated after validation steps.

Which VR headset was selected and what were the key reasons?

Pico Neo 3 Pro was chosen for its lightweight design and the ability to run standalone applications without physical connections, with software installation via Android APKs.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jordan Avery