Wireless Communications Engineering Education via Augmented Reality

The widespread adoption of wireless devices in all aspects of the public's daily lives and the growing demand for professionals in the wireless communications field demonstrate the need for in-depth wireless engineering education. This increased demand triggered many academic institutions to start offering courses and programs in this area. As a part of our previous work, we provided a platform for students to keep up with the improvements in the wireless communications field and gain hands-on experience using Software Defined Radios (SDR). However, existing coursework and curricula in wireless networking is challenged by the fact that it is difficult to intuitively visualize how the nodes in the network are operating in a way that is linked to the everyday world. In this paper, we introduce visualizations of wireless lab exercises using an Augmented Reality (AR) mobile app. The AR app is designed and built for a wide selection of wireless communications courses, where we are able to visualize links between wireless nodes, antenna radiation patterns, and data throughput. In this paper, we experimentally assess and present the benefits of introducing AR-based visualization tools into wireless communications courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level in terms of student interest and change in skill level.