USING THE KREYLOS AUGMENTED REALITY SANDBOX TO TEACH TOPOGRAPHIC MAPS AND SURFICIAL PROCESSES IN INTRODUCTORY GEOLOGY LAB AT EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY

Topographic maps are difficult for introductory geology students. The Augmented Reality Sandbox (ARS) is an awesome tool for bridging the gap between 2-D representations and real landscapes. The UC Davis’ W.M. Keck Center for Active Visualization in the Earth Sciences (KeckCAVES), UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center, Lawrence Hall of Science, and ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center cooperated on an NSF-funded project to develop 3D visualization applications to teach earth-science concepts. As described on their website (http://idav.ucdavis.edu/~okreylos/ResDev/SARndbox/index.html), the ARS allows users to create topographic models by shaping real sand, on which is then projected in real time an elevation color map, topographic contour lines, and simulated water. The driving software is based on the Vrui VR development toolkit and the Kinect 3D video processing framework and can be downloaded under the GNU General Public License by following a link on their website.

In summer, 2015 sandboxes were used in physical-geology lab to teach maps and surficial features and processes. Both demos of topographic concepts (contour lines, steepness, profiles, etc.) by the instructor and model-building of coastal and fluvial environments (drainage basins, cut-offs, floods, longshore transport, sea-level rise, spits, etc.) by students were employed. The water-flow model was used to study impacts of moving water on surface features. The ARS was connected to a computer monitor so students could see the 2-D image on the monitor at the same time they were looking at the 3-D landscape in the sandbox. Photographs of their models taken with cell-phone cameras were submitted via email to the instructor for grading. An exit survey confirmed students were overwhelmingly positive about the value of the ARS as a teaching tool and that they thoroughly enjoyed this hands-on, inquiry-based approach to learning (especially the model-building competitions) when compared to traditional labs using only topographic maps. Effective classroom use of the ARS requires several weeks of lesson design and experimentation by the instructor. Some redesign of activities employed in this small summer class, and retraining of lab instructors, will be required to implement this technology in the larger (~24 students), academic-year labs.