We have developed and tested an augmented reality environment for teaching electric fields, magnetic fields, and electromagnetic waves. We will demo the experience, discuss design and implementation, and present results from pilot studies.
About Matt
Dr. Matt Anderson has nearly three decades of experience in physics research and education. He is currently a Professor of Physics at San Diego State University, where for the last 25 years he has led a highly productive research group in ultrafast laser physics, optics, and physics education, garnering multiple research grants, publications, and patents (including the Learning Glass Lightboard). He has taught a multitude of course offerings, and is consistently one of the top-rated professors. In 2015 he was awarded the Senate Distinguished Teaching Award from the university which includes the title of “Senate Distinguished Professor.” He has given invited talks nationally and internationally, and his physics education channel on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@yoprofmatt) has garnered nearly 20M views and 225k subscribers (he just received YouTube’s Silver Play Button Award, to which his kids said “Dad, you finally made it!”). Dr. Anderson holds a B.S. in Physics from the University of California at San Diego, a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Oregon, a postdoctoral fellowship from the University of Rochester, and was a visiting faculty member at the University of Oxford. He has served as a member on the APS-FWS and the APS Distinguished Traveling Lecturer Committee. He is married with three kids, likes to surf, play guitar, hike, and play tennis.
Research:
Dr. Anderson’s research has been primarily in the area of femtosecond laser science with an emphasis on quantum optical processes, nonlinear optics, pulse measurement, and dynamic pulse shaping. Dr. Anderson was the first to demonstrate several key optical advances: squeezed light in quasi-phase matched waveguides, chronocyclic homodyne tomography, real-time ultrafast pulse measurement using SPIDER, and single-iteration optical compression. For the past dozen years he has been actively consulting/collaborating with InterOcean Systems LLC on optical techniques for oil detection, and recently was a PI (Co-PI Dave Pullman) on a grant from InterOcean to develop a standoff UV fluorescence detector. This work pioneered significant improvements in optical range and detector sensitivity, and the LED based prototype has detected crude oils from distances of 50 meters, a world’s first. In addition, Dr. Anderson was recently PI on an NSF grant to study the application of virtual reality to teaching physics concepts, particularly electric and magnetic fields. This work has the potential to vastly improve how students visualize complicated three dimensional vector fields, something traditionally difficult to teach via traditional two-dimensional textbooks and white boards.
Date: Wednesday, March 18, 2026
Time: 3:30-4:30pm (EDT)
Location: Studio X - Carlson Library, First Floor & Zoom
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The Voices of XR speaker series is presented by the Center for eXtended Reality, in partnership with Mary Ann Mavrinac Studio X, University Libraries. This series is made possible by Kathy McMorran Murray.
