Collaborative Virtual Environments Used for K12 Distance Learning Project

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Collaborative Virtual Environments Usedfor K-12
Distance Learning Project

• Ronald D. Kriz
• University Visualization and Animation Group
• Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State
  University
• Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics

Session Nuts Bolts of Distance Learning and
Electronic Field Trips Virginia Association of
Museums Annual Conference. March 25-28,
2006 Hotel Roanoke Conference Center Roanoke,
Virginia
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http//www.jwave.vt.edu/rkriz/Presentations/VAM/
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K-12 Project Summary

• Central Virginia Governors School
• DIGSTATS , Tom Morgan and Ron Kriz
• Extending the Use of Collaborative
  Environments for Instruction to K-12 Schools,
• Tom Morgan, Steve Howard, Fernando
  das-Neves, John Kelso, Todd Ogle, Ron Kriz
• Sponsors 1) Institute for Connecting
  Science and Research to the Classroom
• 2) National Science
  Foundation PACI
• 3) Silicon Graphics Company
• Teach the Teachers VRML and CAVE
  Collaborative Console
• 1) Central Virginia Governors School
• 2) Central Shenandoah Valley Regional
  Governors School
• 3) Maryland Virtual High School
• Roanoke County Schools Externship Program
• Visualization of AutoCAD Model Cell Structures
  in CAVE Immersive Environments,
• A. Chavali, CAVE Spring H.S., Mentor Ron Kriz
• CAVE Collaborative Console - DIVERSE the
  future

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K-12 Project Summary Web Links

• DIGStats
• http//www.cvgs.k12.va.us/Digstats
• Extending the Use of Collaborative Environments
• For Instruction to K-12 Schools
• http//www.sv.vt.edu/future/vt-cave/VT/of
  f-campus
• Teach the Teachers VRML and CCC
• http//www.sv.vt.edu/classes/vrml/
• CAVE Collaborative Console
• http//www.sv.vt.edu/future/cave/software/
  ccc/
• DIVERSE OpenGL Windows, MacOS, Linux, Irix
• http//thor.sv.vt.edu/diverse/

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DIG Stats CVGS
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What is a CAVE?
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Viewer immersed In 3D-structure. Gives viewer
unique perspective to study 3D structure /
property relationships.
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• Visualization of AutoCAD Model Cell Structures
• in CAVE Immersive Environments
• A. Chavali, CAVE Spring H.S.

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Desktop Computer
Dell P3 Laptop running Linux
(OS-X, Windows)
CAVE IRIX
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Past CVEs
CAVERNsoft - Limbo CAVE Collaborative Console
(CCC) http//www.sv.vt.edu/future/cave/software/
ccc/
NCSA-PACI Project 1997
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World-Wide Collaboration Jason Leigh Andrew
Johnson Electronic Visualization Lab, UIC
Remote Participants

• Argonne National Lab
• IHPC, Singapore
• CRCACS, Australian NU
• IML, Tokyo Univ.
• CCPO, Old Dominion Unv.
• NCSA, UIUC
• UVAG, Virginia Tech
• Northwestern Univ.

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Mr. Phuwanai Wanamakok, M.S. (1999) Construction
Engineering and Management Department of Civil
Engineering College of Engineering
ESM4714 Class Project Use of the CAVE(tm) as a
Visualization Tool in Architecture-Engineering-Co
nstruction Industry http//www.sv.vt.edu/classes/E
SM4714/Student_Proj/class99/wanamakok
Created the first working prototype of the CAVE
Collaborative Console (CCC)
CCC Demonstrated on The Immersa-Desk and CAVE
simulator Running on an SGI Octane workstation.
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I hear you. You hear me. But where are you and
what are you looking at?
Collaborative Awareness Tools Kevin
Curry Class Project, 1998 Rosson Computer-
Supported Cooperative Work M.S. Thesis,
1999 Supporting Collaborative Awareness in
Tele-Immersion
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CAVE Collaborative Console (CCC) Fernado das
Neves, Ron Kriz, John Kelso
Participants
Awareness
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Recorder
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Project objects

• Connect K-12 students to two remote locations via
  the
• Internet to the Virginia Tech CAVE,
• Provide K-12 students the opportunity to learn
  about
• and experience virtual environments,
• Allow K-12 students to actively collaborate with
  professors
• who are using the CAVE for their research,
• Create and deliver content specific lessons to
  K-12 students
• using a virtual environment that allows the
  students at
• remote sites to actively collaborate with each
  other as they
• investigate the subject matter.

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Lessons Learned
The project succeeded in connecting students at
two remote locations in Virginia and researchers
at the Virginia Tech CAVE via a collaborative
virtual environment. The path to success was
certainly more challenging than expected!
However, information gleaned from the endeavor
will be useful in extending collaborative virtual
environments in the future to the K-12 education
community. An summary of obstacles encountered
and progress made, is organized below by
project objectives. The team was successful in
developing the lessons. However, it was
apparent that to develop a more complex CAVE
program requires full-time programmers. It was
also evident that to utilize the CCC at a remote
site, a staff member must have a basic knowledge
of Unix administration.
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http//diverse.sourceforge.net
D evice I ndependent V irtual
E nvironment R econfigurable,
S calable,
E xtensible
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DIVERSE current and future features LLC Open
Technologies

• Current SGI-Performer API DIVERSE interface
  to Performer (DPF)
• Works out of the box in SGI-Irix and Linux
• Elegant Interface
• Designed for rapid application development,
  Examples
• 1. Loading a model and navigating (fly-thru)
  takes only 11 lines of code
• 2. A computer science student with no
  experience in VR development was able
• to build a prototype visualization tools for
  nanostructures in 4 days
• Dynamic Shared Objects (DSOs) load or unload
  during execution
• Generic IO support (wands, mice, keyboards,
  trackers, etc.)
• Write once -- run everywhere with no changes
• Powerful shared memory architecture
• Robust augmentation to performer
• Generic collaborative tools

• Future release
• Backward compatible
• Push or Pull IO interface
• XML based configuration
• OS 10 support (via X11)
• Native MS-Windows support
• Cross platform architecture
• Windowing API independent
• Display independent OpenGL Support
• Open Scene Graph augmentation

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Andrew Ray
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D_Collab_tools running
D_Atomview
on a desktop computer
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Future Opportunities
The New Art Museum of Southwest Virginia Press
release
. All exhibition and education spaces will be
wired to provide real-time, interactive
distance learning experiences via high-speed
network to classrooms across the region and the
Commonwealth. A three- dimensional, computer
animated, immersive virtual environment will
provide the public with the rare opportunity to
experience this technology.
Susanah Koerber Curator of the Art Museum of
Western Virginia
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Thesis Statement

• Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR), e.g. CAVEs,
  IWBs, and HMDs, provides
• users insight by viewing their data as 3D
  objects.
• Insight will be enhanced by creation of tools
  that allow multiple users
• (avatars) to be networked together where they
  can manipulate 3D
• objects in a common shared IVR.
• Making same networked tools available on desktop
  computers will allow
• many new users access to IVR technology.
• Collaboration will be enhanced, if these
  collaborative desktop tools
• become as ubiquitous as the Web browser.
• Open-source licensing, e.g. GPL/MPL, fosters
  distribution, collaboration,
• innovation and domain specific customizations
  
• managing large construction site projects
  (e-commerce),
• analysis and interpretation of HPC
  nanostructures (e-research),
• 2007 Jamestown project (e-education distance
  learning)

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We propose to implement a suite of open-source
collaborative tools, and applications based on
those tools, which will

• allow multiple users to share the same IVRs, that
  works across
• a wide range of IVR systems, from desktop
  computers to Head-
• Mounted Displays (HMD) to fullyimmersive systems
  e.g.CAVEs.
• create awareness tools, that allow users to glean
  information
• about other users (avatars) or 3D objects in a
  common IVR --
• some tools may be domain specific.
• create interaction tools, where users modify IVR
  and its content
• create collaborative navigational tools, that
  allow users to share
• views, be tethered to other users, jump next to
  another user, etc.
• Use HCI methods to create tools that are
  intuitive and useful
• Explore the utility of nontraditional IVR data,
  such as sound,
• voice recognition, and real-time video

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Observations Conclusions

• Virtual and collaborative design environments
  have been
• at best working prototypes that are too
  difficult to use as
• a day-to-day application.
• Better APIs are needed so that scientists,
  engineers, and
• educators can build their own applications
  based on the
• content within their discipline. As easy as
  Microsofts
• Word, Powerpoint, and Excel.
• The best designed collaborative environments
  will work
• only within existing collaborative groups.

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