Computer Graphics World

40 October 2008 T o the thousands of K–12 and higher-ed institutions already using immersive education applications, it might sound like old news to hear that the technology's time has come. But it has, for thousands upon thousands more schools that have yet to test the waters. If the forces behind the Immersive Education Initiative have their way over the next two to three years, an ever-increasing num- ber of students and teachers the world over will be exploring 3D environments, playing interactive learning games, and enjoying virtual collaboration sessions with peers a state, or even a conti- nent, away. Changes are also in store for those schools already us- ing immersive education; they will experience a major upsurge in terms of content, tools, usability, and image quality. One example of what is to come is the Virtual Egypt Immersive Education environment developed for the Woods College of Advancing Studies at Boston Col- lege. The original Virtual Egypt was created in 2003 using Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML), Extensible 3D (X3D) QuickTime 3D, Flash, stream- ing video, and the Unreal 2 game engine. (In 2006, the Second Life 3D platform was incorporated as well). Users, or rather their avatars, move through a high-resolution virtual tomb created by hand and also using scans from the Theban Mapping Project (www.thebanmappingproject.com), interacting with content such as objects, text, video, or games. The upgraded, or third-generation, Virtual Egypt will feature richer imagery, such as near-photorealis- tic avatars created with photo-mapping software, and a variety of 3D formats (including VRML, X3D, and OBJ). The new Egypt will also have more customiza- tion options. Teachers who want to focus on a partic- ular area—archaeology or mythology, for example—can populate the environment with unique content, such as videos of excavation techniques or text translations of hieroglyphics. But for educators simply wanting a ready-to-go application to complement class ma- terial, Virtual Egypt can also be downloaded and used as is. The overarching idea behind the Immersive Education Initia- tive is that schools of all kinds, including those with tight budgets, will be able to access a universal library of objects that they can use to help engage students more thoroughly. Reaching students through digital media is increasingly viewed as a must, as each new generation arriving at school seems more media-savvy than its pre- decessor. Many of those library objects will be 3D, but there will also be video, audio, Flash, and interactive games, among other types of media. "It's important to have different kinds of content," says Aaron Walsh, founder of the Immersive Education Initiative and a direc- tor of its parent organization, the Media Grid. Virtual Egypt, he says, is just one example of the types of complete immersive educa- tion learning environments that the Initiative plans to provide free of charge to educators. "Many more are under development, including a full suite of 40 October 2008 Second Life, one of the open-source platforms serving as a client, is a mature utility that is easy to use and offers many rich social tools. Taking the Initiative A nonprofit group with university roots is working to get students everywhere immersed in learning By Jenny DonelAn

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