USING STEREO PROJECTION TO BRING NEW DIMENSIONS TO EARTH SCIENCE EDUCATION

The ability to visualize spatial relationships in three-dimensions has historically been one of the greatest hurdles for students in introductory geoscience courses. Classroom stereo projection technology provides a form of immersive virtual environment that helps students to overcome this obstacle and significantly improve students' perception of complex concepts. Recent advances in computer game technology and projection systems have dramatically reduced the cost of stereo projection systems. While stereo projection systems cost over $100,000 only a year ago, mobile or fixed systems can now be built for less than $15,000 - making stereo projection a feasible classroom tool.

These stereo projection systems provide students with a unique shared-group experience that can serve as a bridge to understanding non-stereo computer visualizations and traditional lab materials (maps, images and aerial photographs). Students can view and discuss stereo pairs as a group or view topographic and geological maps as three-dimensional objects prior to working with traditional two-dimensional maps. Stereo projection systems can also move well beyond this level, allowing students to interactively manipulate and explore three-dimensional visualizations of research data sets and mathematical models or use complex time-dependent computer visualizations to explore course material in ways that are not possible using traditional education materials.

Stereo projection systems can also act as a catalyst to create collaborations between researchers and educators, and between different departments in the development of new educational materials. A collaborative, interdisciplinary effort is now underway to develop stereo projection systems in geoscience departments at a number of research and educational institutions. A distinctive feature of this initiative is that the design of the projection systems at the participating institutions would be standardized, allowing materials developed by any one institution to be immediately adopted by all of the partner institutions.