Creating Virtual Environments for Educationand Training

‘Learning to live with Cyberspace’

Dr Alan Goodall

Winston Churchill Fellow / Beaverbrook Award Fellow 1999

Content:

1. Background 6. The Technology2. Aim &Objectives

7. Places Visited

3. Introduction 8. Dissemination4. Overview 9.

Acknowledgements5. Applications 10. Bibliography

This report describes the component parts of Virtual Reality Technologies, gives contact detailsof all the places visited during my fellowship and describes what is being done regardingdissemination and follow up, especially via a 'proof of concept' model - a 'Cyber MedicalCollege'.

During the fellowship an electronic journal was kept, including pictures at:http://www.eboard.com/user/goodall-churchill-safari

Alan, Immersed in a virtual world!

1. Background

The challenge for all educators and trainers world-wide is to create interesting and relevantlearning experiences. In order to try and achieve this cost effectively and efficiently, and withgreater numbers of students, approaches to teaching and learning in schools and highereducation all over the world are undergoing unprecedented changes. Training in business andindustry is also facing similar change.

A wide range of new technologies, including interactive multimedia and Virtual Reality (VR) isbeing used in attempts to create meaningful learning experiences. But, how good are they atimproving quality of teaching and learning? How can we ensure that they are better than earlierteaching methods?

2. Aim and Objectives

The best use of VR in education and training - and of all the new information andcommunication technologies (C&IT) - will require a thorough understanding of the scope andviability of their individual elements.

It also requires an understanding of both the technical and human elements in the design,production, evaluation - and especially the ultimate use of these technologies.

The aim of my Winston Churchill Fellowship was to allow me to visit academic and commercialcentres abroad, which are at the 'cutting edge' of research, development and applications ofVirtual Reality Technologies.

My objectives were to learn:

What exactly is Virtual reality and what is it useful for - especially in education andtraining?What are the component technologies - regarding both hardware and software?How ‘real’ and useful can experiences be in Virtual Environments?What 'cross-over' value do they have to real life situations?What are 'good practices' in relation to design, production and evaluation of VRapplications?How can the lessons learned be applied and demonstrated in the UK?

3. Introduction

As we start a new millennium it is widely recognised that the early years at least will bedominated by the new information and communications technologies. Governments world-wideare concerned as to how they can ensure their citizens become well equipped with the essentialskills these technologies will require in the new 'Knowledge Age'. For example, in the UK thereare numerous recent government initiatives at all educational levels such as 'The National Gridfor Learning', 'The University for Industry' and now the 'e-University', each promoting theconcept of 'Lifelong learning'.

Education has been subjected to a multitude of technological 'hypes' and, indeed, to a widerange of differing pedagogical approaches. Many of these have left teaching practitionersconfused - and, for a variety of reasons, some are highly resistant to further change. However,on the technological front it could be pointed out that major improvements in teaching andlearning could take place immediately - if all teachers and lecturers become skilled in usingtechnologies that emerged decades ago!

"… while a Victorian Surgeon would feel confusedand helpless in a hi-tech modern operatingtheatre a Victorian Teacher transported to amodern classroom would find it predominatelyfamiliar and unthreatening."

VR Techno Japan – vision of Taku Kajiwara,Governor of Gifu Prefecture.

Models of VR technologies at Argonne NationalLab, Chicago.

In an interesting view on this Taylor (1999) points out that while a Victorian Surgeon would feelconfused and helpless in a hi-tech modern operating theatre a Victorian Teacher transported toa modern classroom would find it predominately familiar and unthreatening. This does not meanhowever that all educators are 'Luddites' or that the potential of the new technologies has notbeen recognised - at least by some. A major problem for those at the 'chalk face' has been therapid pace of technological changes coupled with unrealistic claims for the latest technological'fad'. This has often been accompanied by a lack of interest, understanding or support from theirsenior managers.

The latest technologies to be given a 'hype' are those associated with Virtual Reality (VR).Among the many claims being made are that VR has the potential to make education andtraining more interesting, more realistic, more efficient and more cost effective.

In 1992 the U.S.A. National Research Council established a Committee on Virtual RealityResearch and Development - with a remit to give guidance and direction regarding federalinvestment in this rapidly developing field. The committee's response was published in 1995 asa report "Virtual Reality" - Scientific and Technological Challenges". The NRC report is acomprehensive review of the trends and needs in Virtual Reality and, perhaps more importantly,the potential of VR to fulfil societal needs.

From my visits throughout the USA - and attendance at the recent eighth 'Medicine meetsVirtual Reality Conference' held in California, 27-30 January 2000 - it is obvious that the 1995NRC report has been a major influence in the scope and direction of the entire field of VirtualReality R & D throughout the U.S.A. and world-wide. In Japan there are numerous initiativesboth regionally and nationally. See especially those in Gifu Prefecture(http://www.softopia.pref.gifu.jp). In the UK the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) hasestablished the UK VR Forum to promote the use of VR by business and industry(http://www.vrforum.org.uk/).

A recent, albeit brief, update on VR Technology is given by Larry Rosenblum, Grigore Burdeaand Susumu Tachi in an article 'VR Reborn' (VR News March 1999 (p 16-19)).

A comprehensive review of VR by Jerry Isdale is available on-line athttp://isdale.com/jerry/VR/WhatIsVR.html.

Entering a virtual force field in 'Maxwell World' atGeorge Mason University, Washington DC

The ultimate application of new technology in the20th Century. Where will the 21st take us?

4. Overview

What is 'Virtual Reality' and what is it good for?

As with all new developing fields of research there are many semantic arguments overterminology. Virtual Reality is no exception and one sees a wide range of terms used by differentauthors - such as 'Synthetic Environments', 'Virtual Environments', 'Augmented Reality' andeven 'Mixed Reality'. A comprehensive review of terminology can be found in 'A Taxonomy ofReal and Virtual World Display Integration' - Paul Milgram and Herman Colquoun Jr. (1999). Tosome people 'Virtual' may also be used to represent entire organisations - with or without anyimmersive aspects - e.g. 'Virtual Universities'. An excellent example, Virtual Heritage Network,has just been launched by Scot Thrane and Professor Ojika at Gifu University in Japan(http://www.virtualheritage.net/).

Whilst noting that there is no accepted definition of 'Virtual Reality', the NRC report points outthat, "'Synthetic Environments' or 'Virtual Environments' (which are created by VRtechnologies) are concerned with the 'Design, Construction and Application of Multi-modal, Immersive systems that enable the operator to interact usefully with somestructured environment". Thus the basic components consist of an interface between ahuman operator and a machine.

The European Union VREPAR project describes VR as, "a set of computer technologieswhich provide a convincing interface to a computer generated world". The key featuresare firstly, that the user believes they are 'there' i.e. 'immersed' in the virtual world, secondly thatthey can navigate around this world and third, that they can interact with it in some way. Thus,they are simulations of real or imaginary worlds (http://www.ehto.be/ht_projects/vrepar/).

Christine Youngblut (1998) points out that VR technology allows three kinds of knowledgebuilding experiences that are not available in the real world which are related to: -

Size

Changes can easily be made in relative sizes. Thus the user can view and enter 'Atoms' or'molecules' within a virtual environment.

Transduction

Interface devices can be used to present information which is not readily available to humansenses e.g. Sound levels can be used to portray levels of radiation and colour can be used toshow the movement of gases.

Re-ification

This is the process of creating perceptible representations of objects and events with nophysical form e.g. mathematical equations.

5. Applications

The NRC report identified the following application domains for Virtual Reality: -

EntertainmentNational defenceDesign, Manufacturing and MarketingMedicine and Health CareHazardous Operations (e.g. handling nuclear waste)TrainingEducationInformation VisualisationTelecommunications & Teletravel.

6. The Technology

The NRC report highlights the important role played by R & D in Telerobotics and the range ofspin-offs into the newer field of Virtual Reality. In their view, whilst Virtual Environments enable ahuman operator to enter different 'worlds', Telerobotics allows connection to a 'robot' thatactually 'does something' in the real world e.g. the handling of hazardous waste.

As of 1995 they note that, despite the 'hype', Virtual Reality technology is still lacking except inrespect of Entertainment and Hazardous operations via Telerobotics. They state that there is,"… a substantial gap between SE technology that is commercially available and the SEtechnology that is needed to realise the potential envisioned in the various applicationdomains that have been identified… Even the demonstrations that can be seen at variousuniversities, military establishments, and industrial labs sometimes leave the technicallysophisticated observers who have no vested interest in the technology unimpressed".

The following sub-sections describe the technologies around which most R & D in Virtual Realityrevolves.

HMD for military applications by 'Virtual Vision'

of Seattle

Microvision's Virtual retinal Display

6.1 Human–Machine Interfaces

These are all the devices used to present information to human users, to sense human actionsor responses that control the machine being used - via visual, auditory, haptic, speech and otherchannels.

For an overview see: Institute of Defence Analysis (IDA) paper "Review of virtual environmentinterface technology" available at (http://www.hitl.washington.edu/scivw/IDA); Bill Buxton'sDirectory of Sources for Input Technologies(http://www.dgp.utoronto.ca/people/BillBuxton/InputSources.html) and ‘The Art and Science of3D Interaction’ by Doug Bowman, Ernst Kruijff, Joseph LaViola and Ivan Poupyrev. Ivan was atHIT lab at University of Washington. He now works at ATR in Kyoto, Japan(http://www.mic.atr.co.jpn/~poup/3dui.html).

VR News (http://www.vrnews.com) has published a series of excellent technology reviews.Relevant references and URL's are given below.

Visual Channel

HMD for military applications by 'Virtual Vision' of Seattle.

Microvision's Virtual Retinal Display

These range from small devices suitable for individual use to a wide range of screens allowingeither non-immersive or immersive viewing for small or large groups of people. Displaytechnology concerns:

Head Mounted Display's (HMD's) - whilst earlier versions were heavy and unwieldy in use someof the latest versions are not much larger than bulky sunglasses. They may be monocular orbinocular - and the latter are capable of projecting either the same or different images to eacheye. Virtual Vision of Seattle market a wide range of innovative HMD's(http://www.virtualvision.com).

Sony and Olympus have recently marketed relatively cheap consumer devices. See the SonyGlasstron (http://www.sony.com/professional) and Olympus EyeTrek (http://www.eye-trek.com).

An intriguing display - a Virtual Retinal Display (VRD) was created by the HIT lab at theUniversity of Washington in Seattle. It is produced commercially by Microvision and wasdemonstrated by them at the eighth 'Medicine meets Virtual Reality' conference - January 2000.(http://www.microvision.com).

Off Head Displays (OHD's) range from desktop, stereo display screens to large, projectionscreens or walls and huge, walk in CAVE's (Computer Automatic Virtual Environment or VirtualReality Theatres). CAVE's were first created by researchers at the University of Illinois atChicago - and presented at SIGGRAPH in 1992. (http://www.evl.uic.edu). CAVE's may be three,four, five and even six sided. Only two, six-sided CAVE's exist in the world. I visited one -COSMOS - located in the VR Techno Centre in Gifu, Japan (http://www.vrtc.co.jp). Fakespace ofCalifornia designs and produces a wide range of innovative display technologies - including itsrecent 'RAVE's - which are re-configurable and can be used as desks, walls or CAVE's(http://www.fakespace.com). A most impressive, stereo desktop display is now being marketedby ReachIn Technologies (http://www.reachin.se).

See VR News - November 1998 & December 1999 re Headmounted Displays, and March/May1998 & August/September 1999 re Immersive projection displays.

Audio Channel

Interface devices such as earphones and loudspeakers appear to be of adequate quality forpresent VR systems. Jarrel Pair at Georgia Tech. has a comprehensive on-line paper on VirtualAudio (http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/people/jarrell.pair/primer.html). The work of Beth Wezel atNASA Ames and Richard Duda at San Jose State University promises exciting new dimensionsin audio (http://www-eng.sjsu.edu/~knapp/HCIROD3D/3D_home.htm).

See VR News - June 1999

Speech

Since speech is our main means of communication it would be both useful and natural if thiscould also be used in Virtual environments. This includes both speech recognition and speechsynthesis. However, major technical problems have to be overcome before computerprogrammes are able to cope with a wide vocabulary of continuous speech from a range ofindividual human accents - ideally in a variety of languages. See com speech website at(http://www.speech.cs.cmu.edu/com.speech) and 'Survey of the state of the art in HumanLanguage technology' at http://cslu.cse.ogi.edu/HLTsurvey. Some of the major players in voicerecognition are IBM's Via Voice (http://www.software.ibm.com/speech), Dragon(http://www.dragoncom) and Apple Corp. (http://www.apple.com/macos/speech).

See VR News - May 1999

Virtual Technology using 'ReachIn' Technology Exploring immersive 3D virtual art inCOSMOS at Gifu University, Japan

Haptics

This relates to the 'touchy-feely' and 'kinaesthetic' aspects and differs from the visual andauditory channels in that it involves manipulation as well as sensing. Considering that thehuman hand alone contains 19 bones connected to 20 muscles which allow 22 degrees offreedom - then effective haptic control is a major technological challenge. It may involvekeyboards, mice, trackballs, joysticks and even gloves - and may or may not give variousdegrees of force feedback. Major commercial companies in the field of haptics include SensAbleTechnologies (http://www.sensable.com); Immersion Corp (http://www.immerse.com). Recentmajor developments in haptics centre on its use in surgical training. Some good examples canbe seen at Stanford Medical School National BioComputational Center (http://www-biocomp.stanford.edu/). Virtual Presence Ltd. distributes an endoscopic surgical skills trainerMIST (Minimally Invasive Skills Trainer) (http://www.vrweb.com). ReachIn Technologies have avariety of medical applications at (http://www.reachin.se).

See VR News – October 1998.

Position Tracking and Mapping

When one enters and moves about in Virtual environments it is essential to have accuratefeedback of where you are - both for your whole body or relevant parts - and of the environmentyou are in. The NRC report points out that research into position mapping and tracking (motioncapture) has centred on four basic technologies - mechanical linkages, magnetic sensors,optical sensors and acoustic sensors. Motion interfaces range from whole body to part body -both passive as in flight simulators and active as in locomotion. These relate to head and eyetracking in visual displays; hand and arm tracking for haptic interfaces; body tracking forlocomotion and visual displays; body surface mapping for facial expression recognition, virtualclothiers and medical telerobots. The environment itself also has to be mapped. Considerableresearch in this area has been done both by the entertainment industry and the military.Ascension Technology's MotionStar tracks the movements of martial arts champion BobbyLeach (http://www.ascension-tech.com/graphic.htm). See also the US Naval PostGrad SchoolInteract Research Group work at (http://www.interact.nps.navy.mil/). At the Navy Research Lab(NRL) in Washington I tried out an application which was being developed to train US Marines(http://www.nrl.navy.mil).

See VR News - July 1998 & Oct. 1999

"In Virtual Environments, just as in the real world, it is essential to know where you are andwhere you are going ."

Navigation and Gestural Devices

In Virtual Environments, just as in the real world, it is essential to know where you are andwhere you are going - and how you can interact with your surroundings. Doug Bowman et al. inthe "The Art and Science of 3D Interaction" divide interaction tasks into Navigation, Selection,Manipulation and Systems Control. Navigation involves both 'wayfaring' i.e. where to go andplanning how to get there; and 'travel' - i.e. the journey.

Wayfaring may involve maps and representations of the virtual environment c.f. in-car navigationdisplays. Researchers at ATR were using small Sony Vaios (http://www.atr.co.jp) to enablepeople to navigate around real environments.

Travel may be aided by keyboards, mice joysticks, gloves, head trackers and wands - especiallywith immersive displays. Fakespace in California (http://www.fakespace.com) are very active inR &D in this area . See also the range produced by Virtual Technologies (http://www.virtex.com).

This is perhaps one of the most exciting areas of R & D and we will soon see some new devices- and applications - in the domains of entertainment, travel and especially military. LarryRosenblum at NRL (http://www.nrl.navy.mi) showed me their battlefield simulator 'Dragon'.

See VR News - January / February 1998 and November 1999.

Other Human-Machine Interfaces

Longer-term views are that we will be able to interact with Virtual Environments via gustatoryand olfactory channels (http://www.fragrancetech.com/) and perhaps even via thoughtprocesses.

Simulators for fire fighters might be able to detect odour and temperature – see VR News May1999.

Research into magnetic positional sensors in a'Virtual Marine' trainer at NRL Washington DC

Device for measuring brain output duringimmersion in VEs – could it be used forinput?

6.2 Computer Generation of Virtual Environments (VE’s)

This involves the building and populating of Virtual Environments and for many researchers it isthe 'core area' of Virtual Reality. It covers a huge range of technologies related to both hardwareand software. There are often various 'trade-offs' such as those between realism and interactivecapacity.

The following are examples of R & D issues regarding VE Authoring tools.

Software capability e.g. for scene modelling and especially detailed 'rendering'; objectmodelling; scripting; and behaviour modelling. These are also a function of factors such as'frame rate' (number of images per second giving the illusion of continual motion in films);'response time' (to preserve the illusion of instant, interactive control); and finally 'pictureresolution' as measured by the number of polygons.

Much is hardware dependent. There have been dramatic increases in speed and functionality oftoday's multimedia PC's compared with just a few years ago. Consequently, as software for useon such machines becomes more widely available, the uptake of VR in all domains will greatlyincrease, especially for education and training.

Some objects, and indeed environments, can be scanned in from the real world or from stillpictures or video. Geometrix (http://www.geometrixinc.com/) and Apple Quicktime VR(http://www.apple.com) have a range of products for this purpose. Other objects may be totallycreated by computer graphics programmes (http://www.virtus.com/).

3D scanning technology is advancing rapidly and both small and very large objects can now bescanned for use in Virtual Environments. At the Virtual Systems Laboratory, University of Gifu(http://www.vsl.gifu-u.ac.jp), I was given a full body 3D scan by Professor Takeo Ojika.

See VR News August/September 1998.

'Virtual Humans' can now be created - as in Transom Jack (http://www.transom.com) andHaptek (http://www.haptek.com). 'Avatars' (http://www.ccon.org/) even have Virtual Personalitiesor 'verbots' (http://www.vperson.com).

The field of 'Intelligent Virtual Agents' is perhaps one of the most exciting areas for softwaredevelopments. Just before travelling on my Fellowship I attended VA '99 and UK VRSIG at theUniversity of Salford (http://www.salford.ac.uk/cve/ukvrsig99/). Interestingly, some of theconference discussions on what behaviours these agents could or could not do reminded me of

our own debates in the 1970's regarding animal behaviour - particularly in relation to thecontroversy over 'Nature/Nurture'.

See VR News - June 1998, Jan/Feb. 1999, March 1999 and July 1999

The Advanced Interfaces Group, Department of Computer Science at Manchester Universityhave recently released - free of charge - their MAVERIK software. It is designed to support VRapplications for single users. http://www.aig.cs.man.ac.uk/systems/Maverik.

A version for multiple participants interworking in multiple Virtual Environments - is called 'Deva'(http://www.aig.cs.man.ac.uk/systems/Deva).

Full body, 3D Scanner at 'Virtual Systems Lab' at University ofGifu, Japan

Telerobotics research at University of Gifu, Japan

6.3 Telerobotics

The NRC report defines a 'telerobot' as a robot controlled at a distance by a human operator,regardless of the degree of robot autonomy. Research in this area is well established in suchareas as underwater and space exploration; construction industry; nuclear plant control;medicine and military operations. Telerobotics research has already highlighted some of themajor problems encountered by VR - e.g. 'delays' in communication.

NASA has many interests in this field and some working examples can be seen at JohnsonSpace Centre (http://www.jsc.nasa.gov). Recently, London Health Sciences Centre, Ontarioclaimed the world's first closed chest, beating heart, surgery by Dr Douglas Boyd. Dr RalphDamiano, a surgeon at Pennsylvania State University claims to have used a robotics-assisteddevice to successfully perform heart bypass operations on 17 patients. Both surgeons wereusing Computer Motion's product Zeus (http://www.computermotion.com/).

In addition to macro robots this field promises some exciting developments in the area of MicroElectromechanics - with perhaps biological counterparts being used in a range of both virtualand real environments. Richard Satava of Yale University gave some outstanding examples ofrecent research in this area in his presentation "The BioIntelligence Age; Medicine after theInformation Age" - given at the 8th annual 'Medicine Meets Virtual Reality Conference' inCalifornia in January 2000.

"The field of 'Intelligent Virtual Agents' is perhaps one of the most exciting areasfor software developments."

Surgical Planning in VEs at Stanford Medical Centre– evaluating the carry over value of real medicalworlds

Visualisation of the networked 'Office of theFuture', University of North Carolina, U.S.A.

6.4 Networks

These have the potential to enable Virtual Environments to become 'Shared worlds' in which allcomponents such as objects, individuals and processes - can interact, in real time, withoutregard to their actual, physical location. Bernie Roehl has a regular column on Shared Worlds inVR News. MUDs, MOOs and more, are covered. Roehl gives an overview in the VR News,March 1999 issue.

Details of the history of the World-wide Web can be found at http://www.computermotion.com/.

Research into network standards and technology is being conducted by Hank Dardy andcolleagues in the Terabit research group of the Centre for Computational Sciences at the NavalResearch Lab. Washington D.C. (http://www.atd.net). Hank assured me that in the nextgeneration of networks we will have gigabyte bandwidth to our desktops.

The new 'Bluetooth' standards promise broadband, wireless communications connectivity andthe facility for a wide range of electronic devices to talk to each other - seehttp://www.bluetooth.com/.

The potential for distributed training and so-called 'distance education' is immense, especially tohelp Developing countires. However, two major constraining factors are available 'bandwidth' -to enable multimedia rich content and 'cost of access time'. Academics in the UK have freeaccess to wide bandwidth via SuperJanet in England(http://www.ja.net/SuperJANET/SuperJANET.html) and the various MAN's in Scotland(http://www.shefc.ac.uk/shefc/publicat/press/mans.html). However, these are not available toexternal individuals or to commercial, industrial or business worlds, - but, may be linked in someway via ISDN or other networks. The business world has its own range of Local Area Networks(LAN's ) and Wide Area Networks (WAN's)

The UK Government has set up the 'National Grid for Learning' see http://www.ngfl.gov.uk/,http://www.dfee.gov.uk/grid/ and http://www.dfee.gov.uk/grid/consult/index.htm.

6.5 Evaluation

Whilst very little of traditional education is ever subjected to proper evaluation much of the useof new technologies - quite rightly - has been examined by a variety of evaluation techniques. Agood evaluation should examine the design, performance, usability, cost-effectiveness - andeven desirability of Virtual Environment applications. This must include hardware, software andhuman behaviour.

Ed Swann, in Larry's lab at NRL, gave me a copy of the paper by Deborah Hix, himself andother co-workers evaluating a military simulation. "User-centred Design & Evaluation of a Real-Time Battlefield Visualisation Environment". It lays out a "Framework of Usability Characteristicsin Virtual Environments" (http://www.vpst.org/jgabbard/ve/framework). It won the "Best Paper" atIEEE VR' 99.

A recent JTAP project - 'A Framework for Pedagogical Evaluation of Virtual LearningEnvironments' by Sandy Britain & Oleg Liber , covers evaluation(http://www.jtap.ac.uk/reports/htm/jtap-041.html).

7. Places Visited

"Thus, the timing of my Fellowship - fiveyears after the publication of this pivotalreport - enabled me to review progress inacknowledged centres of excellence inboth academic and commercialenvironments abroad."

Dr Richard Sezibera - Rwandan Ambassador to the U.S.A. -receivesa Sir Winston Churchill Commemorative Crown.

The NRC report in 1995 highlights that, "with few exceptions (one of which is entertainment)serious commercial applications of VR (as opposed to research demonstrations ofconcept feasibility and promise) are likely to be realised only in a longer term framework -perhaps five to ten years."

Thus, the timing of my Fellowship - five years after the publication of this pivotal report - enabledme to review what progress has been made by some of the major key players, located inacknowledged centres of excellence in both academic and commercial environments abroad. Allhad made major advances since 1995 in the technology areas described above.

USA

"All centres of excellence I visited were making advances in the technology areas described."

Washington D.C.

Navy Research Lab

Information Technology DivisionCentre for Computational Science

http://www.nrl.navy.mil

George Mason University

Department of Education & Information Technology

http://www.virtual.gmu.edu

Peace Corps Headquarters

Office of Inspector General, Project evaluation section

http://www.peacecorps.gov

Rwandan Embassy

Visit to Ambassador (Dr Richard Sezibera)

North Carolina

University of North Carolina

Department of Computer Science

http://www.cs.unc.edu/Research/graphics/graphics.html

Chicago

University of Illinois

Electronic Visualisation Lab.Software Technology Research Lab.Design Visualisation Lab

http://www.evl.uic.edu

School of Art & Design

http://www.uic.e

Department of Mechanical Engineering

http://www.ivri.me.uic.edu

Argonne National Lab.

Mathematics & Computer Science divisionMedia Services, Information & Publishing Division

http://www.anl.gov/

Atlanta

Georgia Tech

College of Computing

http://www.cc.gatech.edu

http://www.cc.gatechedu/grads/a/Don.Allison/Don.Allison.html

Atlanta Zoo

Virtual Gorilla project

http://www.zooatlanta.org/

Willie B, a real – not a virtual – Gorilla, at Atlanta Zoo.

Houston

University of Houston

Virtual Environments Research Institute

http://www.vetl.uh.edu

Johnson Space Centre

Mission Control, Visitors Centre & tour of operations

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov

California

Stanford University

National Bio-Computational Centre

http://www-biocomp.stanford.edu/

The Churchill Club

Launch of Michael Lewis's book on Silicon Valley

http://www.churchillclub.com

Fakespace Labs.

Mountain View

http://www.fakespace.com

Sonic Box

Mountain View

http://www.sonicbox.com

Mono Lake

Visitors Interpretation Centre

Yosemite National Park

Visitors Interpretation Centre, Tour of park

Death Valley

Museum, Visitors centre and tour of area

Bodie- Ghost town

Museum and tour of town

Visit the State Parks site

http://www.ceres.ca.gov/parks/

Seattle

University of Washington

School of EducationThe Washington Technology CentreHuman Interface Technology Lab

http://www.hitl.washington.edu

Centre for Environmental Visualisation, College of Ocean & Fisheries Science

http://www.cev.washington.edu

Virtual Vision

Redmond

http://www.virtualvision.com

Microsoft

Redmond (visit did not take place as planned)

http://www.research.com/varg/

Japan

Gifu

University of Gifu

Virtual Systems Lab.

http://www.vsl.gifu-u.ac.jp

IAMAS

International Academy of Media Arts & Sciences

http://www.iamas.ac.jp/

VR Techno Centre

Gifu Prefectural Government Information Systems Department,Science & TechnologyPromotion Centre

http://www.vtrc.co.jp/

Softopia, Japan

Ogaki City

http://www.softopia.pref.gifu.jp

Yokohama

Virtual Reality Centrehttp://www.ddd.co.jp/vrc/Mixed Reality Systems Laboratory Inc.

http://www.mr-system.com/

Kyoto

ATR Media Integration & Communications Research Labs

http://www.mic.atr.co.jp

China

Shanghai

Shanghai TV University, Presidents Office

http://www.shtvu.edu.cn

China is investing in the new technologies – butwould the ancient sages approve?

Australia

Sydney

Learning Technology Systems, NSW Police, Paramatta Minerva project

http://www.essenet.demon.co.uk/

Sunset at Golden Gate Bridge – dawn for 'TheNew New Thing' in nearby Silicon Valley?

In the shadow of Mount Fuji Japan is investingheavily in VR.

8. Dissemination and follow-up

Journal

As in all good 'Safari's' I kept a journal - in this case an electronic one. It contains full details ofthe project including maps, itinerary, written and pictorial information about the places visitedand people met together with relevant URL's. It can be found athttp://www.eboard.com/user/goodall-churchill-safari.

Presentations

I will be giving a keynote presentation at the symposium "Medical Education and the New Media'- to be held at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow on 23 March 1999.Medical practitioners from all over the UK will be attending this symposium. Further details canbe found at http://www.eboard.com/user/menm.

Papers

I have been asked to write a paper on New Media in Education and Training for thePostgraduate Medical Journal. This will now be a joint paper with Dr Elizabeth Goodall,Education Development Officer, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow and MrGraham Sunderland, Consultant Surgeon at Southern General Hospital, Glasgow.

Media

I have prepared a press release - and I have further details, photographs and video footageavailable for publicity and information purposes.

Others

Contacts have been made in Scotland with the Glasgow Development Agency. I will also contactthe UK Department of Trade & Industry, particularly the UK VR Forum initiative. Discussions aretaking place with the Rwandan Ambassador in London regarding the possible role of VR andother new media technologies in helping developing countries such as Rwanda. I will also senddetails to my many contacts in the British Council abroad and in the UK.

Lessons Learned

The first five of my objectives have been achieved. Thanks to many people all over the world Ihave been given a comprehensive overview of Virtual Reality technologies. In addition to seeing'Virtual gorillas' in Atlanta, Georgia, I trained as a 'Virtual Marine' at the Naval Research Centrein Washington; drilled 'Virtual Oil-rigs in Houston, Texas; entered many different 'Virtual Worlds'via a multitude of 'new new' technologies in Silicon Valley, California; gave a presentation on'Virtual Education' in Shanghai, China; fought 'Virtual Aliens' in Japan and finally learned crisismanagement as a 'Virtual Policeman' in Sydney, Australia. I have seen the potential of thesenew technologies being applied in a number of imaginative ways - particularly regarding medicaleducation. These have profound implications for 'Global Education' - especially in helpingdeveloping countries such as Rwanda.

I have been very fortunate throughout my life to meet many truly inspirational people. The newVirtual reality technologies cannot - and must not - replace meeting real people and sharing realexperiences. They can, however, be a very useful addition to the growing range of newtechnologies, which enable us to extend our experiential learning. As we have done with earliercommunication technologies in print, radio, film and television we now have to develop a goodgrammar for VR. Only by doing this will be we prepared - and biologically 'fit' - for life in the'Cyberspace'. This will be where much of the learning will take place during the new 'KnowledgeAge' - and much more beside! Here lies my sixth objective.

"The skills and experiences gainedduring my Fellowship are now beingused with colleagues to create a highlevel, specific model of a networked,Virtual Environment for education andtraining - a 'Cyber Medical College'."

The 'Cyber Medical College'

Working Model

The skills and experiences gained during my Fellowship are now being used with colleagues tocreate a high level, specific model of a networked, Virtual Environment for education andtraining – a 'Cyber Medical College'. A 'proof of concept' prototype has already been createdand is attracting much interest nationally. The prototype demonstrates 'good practice' in thedesign, production, and use of Virtual Environments in Medical Education.

Many aspects of this model are generic and could therefore be used in other applications.

9. Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the Winston Churchill Trust for giving me the opportunity to make this

'Journey of a Life-time', which really was a 'Safari' of discovery. I am particularly grateful to SirHenry Beverley and to Judith Barber for their kindness, understanding and tolerance of whatbecame a marathon project!

I am grateful for the additional honour of being the Beaverbrook Award Fellow of 1999.

I was made most welcome in all the centres I visited. I met many inspirational people and mademany new friends - far too numerous to mention individually here. I owe you all a great debt ofgratitude. Thank you!

Friends in U.S.A. and family in Australia allowed me to have a change from hotel living – at leastfor a few days. Like all good friends and family, they questioned me in detail about my project –and even about my sanity in undertaking such a Safari! Thanks to Jim and Yasuyo inAlexandria, Virginia; Jon and Barbara in Madera, California; and the Goodall Family in Sydney,Australia.

Thanks to Andy Kerr, Manager, and Jessops in Glasgow, for assistance with digital videoequipment.

I would like to thank my referees, Professor John Spence, Vice-Principal and Professor ColinSuckling, Deputy Principal, University of Strathclyde, for their support and encouragement. I amgrateful to the University for granting sabbatical leave.

Finally, and by no means least, my thanks to my wife Elizabeth and to my family and friends forall their support and encouragement during the planning and realisation of this fellowship. Now a'New New' Safari begins – the application of what has been learned on this one.

Safari of a lifetime – around the World in 86 days! Alan, researching his next circumnavigation ofthe globe!

10. Bibliography

Much of the literature research was done on-line and URL's have been included in the mainbody of the report at the relevant locations. The following were useful additional references:

Amato I (1999) Pushing the Horizon - Seventy five years of High Stakes Science &technology at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington D.C., U.S. GovernmentPrinting Office ISBN 0-16-049579-2Bill Gates (1999) Business at the Speed of Thought, Penguin BooksDurlach N.I & Mavor A.S (Eds) (1995) Virtual Reality - Scientific and TechnologicalChallenges, Report of the National Research Council, National Academy PressLewis, Michael (1999) The New New Thing, Hodder and Stoughton

Ohta Y & Tamura H (1999) Mixed Reality - Merging Real and Virtual Worlds (Springer-Verlag)Milgram, P and Colquoun, H Jr (1999) A Taxonomy of Real and Virtual World DisplayIntegration, (Ibid)VR News - Monthly journal on all aspects of VR (http://www.vrnews.com).Westwoood J. et al (2000) Medicine meets Virtual Reality 2000, IOS PressYoungblut C (1998) Educational uses of Virtual Reality Technology,Institute for DefenceAnalysis, IDA document D-2128.