What is it about?

Many computer science concepts, like quicksort and linked list pointer updates, are hard for students to understand because it’s difficult to keep track of what’s changing step by step. Most existing tools use diagrams or animations on a screen, which can still feel abstract. This project introduces a low-cost, open-source augmented reality (AR) headset that helps students see and interact with these concepts in a more intuitive way. The headset is built using 3D-printed parts and widely available components, and we provide clear instructions so others can build their own version. With this system, students can interact with algorithms in physical space, such as moving elements during quicksort or updating links in a data structure. By making these processes more visual and interactive, this work aims to make computer science concepts easier to learn and teach.

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Why is it important?

This work is important because many students struggle to understand core computer science concepts like sorting algorithms and pointer-based data structures. These topics often require tracking multiple changes at once, which can be difficult to follow using traditional teaching methods. While augmented reality (AR) has shown promise in education, it is rarely used in computer science classrooms due to the high cost and limited accessibility of existing systems. This project addresses that gap by providing a low-cost, open-source solution that others can build and use. By making AR more accessible and practical for education, this work has the potential to improve how abstract concepts are taught and to help more students engage with and understand foundational topics in computer science.

Perspectives

I started this project because I’ve seen how difficult it can be for students, including myself, to fully understand abstract concepts in computer science, even with traditional visual tools. I was interested in whether augmented reality could make these ideas more intuitive by allowing students to interact with them directly. Building this system also allowed me to explore how to make emerging technologies like AR more accessible and practical for real classrooms, rather than just research labs. I hope this work encourages others to experiment with more interactive approaches to teaching and helps make complex computing concepts easier for students to understand.

Ben Khant
Bucknell University

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: Developing an In-House Augmented Reality Optical-See-Through Head-Mounted Display for Computing Education, February 2026, ACM (Association for Computing Machinery),
DOI: 10.1145/3770761.3777285.
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