Transcript mics01 - World Wide Web Instructional Committee

Recent Advances in
Immersive Virtual Worlds for
Education
Otto Borchert
North Dakota State University
NDSU WWWIC
World Wide Web Instructional Committee
WWWIC is an ad hoc group of North Dakota State
University faculty dedicated to developing internet-based
educational software.
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The mission goals of WWWIC are to teach science structure
and process: the Scientific Method, scientific problem
solving, deduction, hypothesis formation and testing, and
experimental design.
WWWIC’s Virtual Worlds research supported by NSF grants
DUE 97-52548 and EAR-9809761.
WWWIC Projects
Content from Anthropology to Zoology
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Geology Explorer
Virtual Cell
Digital Archive Network for
Anthropology (DANA)
ProgrammingLand
Dollar Bay Retailing Game
Blackwood Village
Teaching Principles
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Game-like
Spatially oriented
Goal-orientated
Immersive
Role-based
Exploratory
Interactive
Multi-user
Teach through learn-by-doing techniques
Advantages of Virtual Worlds
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Collapse virtual time and distance
Allow physical or practical
impossibilities
Participate from anywhere
Interact with other users, virtual
artifacts, and software agents
Multi-user collaborations and
competitive play
Technical Approaches
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MUD = Multi User Domain
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MOO = Object Oriented MUD
Multi-user database for implementing
objects and methods to represent
rooms, containers and agents
Technical Approaches
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MUDs and MOOs are typically
task-oriented with keyboard
interactions
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Ours are also graphicallyoriented, point & click interfaces
The Geology Explorer: Planet Oit
The Virtual World of Planet Oit
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Planet Oit: Recently discovered.
Similar to Earth.
Same orbit.
Directly opposite the Sun.
Geology Explorer: Planet Oit
Game Scenario
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You are a geologist.
Explore this new planet.
Authentic geologic goals.
Locate and report valuable minerals.
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Must learn geoscience content.
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The Geology Explorer
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50 Places
90 Different Rocks and
Minerals
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15 Field Instruments
Software Tutors
Maps of Planet Oit
Virtual Field Instruments
The Geology Explorer
The Geology Explorer
The Geology Explorer
360º PANORAMAS
Recent Advances
·New Modules:
·Hydrology
·Interpretation
·Expanded Graphical Client
·Redesign planet: sophisticated
geologic map + tectonic setting.
The Virtual Cell
The Cell: Rendered in VRML (Virtual Reality
Modeling Language)
The Cell
Users can “fly around” inside the cell.
The Cell: Users are assigned goals which range from
identify the nucleus early to synthesize ATP later.
The Cell
Users set up experiments (For example, use a
chlorophyll test to check for cloroplasts
Experimentation – Users bring samples back
to the lab
The Virtual Cell User Interface
The Cell: Recent Advances
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With the decline of CosmoPlayer,
changing to Java3D
Addition of automated registration so
a class can sign up for the cell within
minutes
Creation and finetuning of modules
(Making the cell look perfect)
Digital Archive Network for
Anthropology (DANA)
DANA is a recent advance!
DANA is intended to be a cross-platform information retrieval system for
web-based multimedia utilized in anthropological research.
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Ultimately, the goal of the DANA project is to create a network of
distributed, federated databases containing research quality digitized 3D
models, photographs, and video of archaeological and cultural data.
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To the user seeking to access a broad variety of data, the client
application will seem as though it is a user-friendly interface to a single
online database. In actually, the user will be conducting searchers across a
wide variety of databases located across the globe.
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DANA Fact Sheet
Technology Used:
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Java3D
Java JDK 1.3
Java Web Start
Java Servlets
JDBC
NCSA Java3D Portfolio
IBM’s HotMedia Classes
Though further research is required to implement the distributed,
federated network aspects of DANA, the database browsing application
currently supports servlet search capabilities for Postgress, mySQL, and
Oracle databases.
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DANA currently only displays VRML 97 and HotMedia 3D models, though
the addition of 3D file formats supported by the NCSA Java3D Portfolio is
expected soon.
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Starting The DANA Applet
After installing Java Web Start and the
Java3D API, return to the application
launch page at:
http://atl.ndsu.edu/archive/dana.htm
Once there, click the “Launch DANA
Applet” button.
Next a “login” box will appear, where
the user enters in his/her username &
password and then clicks the “Login”
button to start the DANA applet.
Future Educational
Uses For DANA
Immersive Virtual Lab
Shared/collaborative research
environment
" Global student education lab
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Digitally-Enhanced Museum Exhibits
Multi-use Kiosk and Web-based
presentations
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To visit WWWIC Projects:
www.ndsu.edu/wwwic
Choose the project you want to view from the list at
the left