From diderot@hitl.washington.edu Tue Jan 17 10:46:57 1995 Return-Path: Received: from mx5.u.washington.edu by stein2.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW94.10/UW-NDC Revision: 2.32 ) id AA07543; Tue, 17 Jan 95 10:46:57 -0800 Received: from hitl-new.hitl.washington.edu by mx5.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW94.10/UW-NDC Revision: 2.31 ) id AA24378; Tue, 17 Jan 95 10:46:56 -0800 Received: by hitl.hitl.washington.edu; id AA17355; Tue, 17 Jan 1995 10:43:03 -0800 Date: Tue, 17 Jan 1995 10:43:03 -0800 X-Sender: diderot@hitl.washington.edu (Unverified) Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" To: scivw@hitl.washington.edu From: Alden Jones (by way of diderot@hitl.washington.edu (Toni Emerson)) Subject: VRRV Press Release Status: OR Please post to WEB, sci. and anyother mailing lists you deem appropriate. And, if you can on Mosaic....hotlink to US WEST and Division pages.... p.s. this was drafted by US WEST....can you make some note of that at header? We probabaly wouldn't state things as they have...you catch my drift? thanks diderot! FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 17, 1995 CONTACT: Dick MacKnight John Metzger Alden Jones U S WEST Inc. U S WEST Foundation HIT Lab 303/793-6559 303/786-7000 206/543-7994 "VIRTUAL REALITY" BECOMES A REALITY FOR SCHOOLS ACROSS THE WEST SEATTLE, WA -- If you can't get science students excited about looking at a water molecule, how about letting them step inside it? While that's impossible in the real world, it's a virtual reality in a world unveiled here today. Educators and U S WEST Foundation officials showed off a new "virtual reality roving vehicle" (VRRV) which will bring realistic, computerized environments to science classes across 14 Western states. At Garfield High School, the VRRV's pioneer school, students and reporters donned a special helmet which let them "step inside" the water molecule. In a separate demonstration, the helmet enabled participants to visit a realistic wetland environment, which was developed in a VRRV project at Kellogg Middle School. A wrap-around screen inside the helmet makes it possible for students to "see" the environment they're studying. In the wetland scene, students can "walk around" and see the effects of rainfall, solar energy, plant growth and animal activity. -- more -- -- 2 -- The students themselves designed elements of the virtual worlds, using school computers. They stored their work on disks which they sent to the Human Interface Technology Laboratory (HIT Lab), a joint research unit of the Washington Technology Center and the University of Washington. At the lab, the students' three-dimensional models are put into a virtual world created by HIT Lab researchers and programmers, using special equipment manufactured by Division Inc. Then the artificial world is brought back to the school in the VRRV. "Eventually," a HIT Lab spokesperson said, "students and teachers will do the entire process at the school." When the van visits a school, students can put on the helmet, see their work and the work of other students in a realistic scene. In VRRV experiments, students can see -- instantly -- the effects of different events in the water molecule, the wetland, or other artificial environments. Said Garfield science teacher Mark Stewart, a VRRV pioneer: "Give today's students a choice between a science book and computer game, and which one do you think they'll choose? With this, they get both -- and they love it. It's helping us reach students who otherwise were turned off and tuned out." Said a student: "It's cool." Funded by the U S WEST Foundation, the project will eventually reach schools in all 14 states served by U S WEST Communications. Selected schools will help create the virtual worlds, while others will simply enjoy a visit from the van to enhance classroom study. -- more -- -- 3 -- Through grants of more than $1.25 million, the Foundation is funding the purchase of three specially equipped vans, technical support at the HIT Lab, coordination of the project, and travel to participating schools. Foundation director Jane Prancan, of Denver, noted that "one of the best things about this project is that it will reach students in rural areas, who otherwise wouldn't have access to this technology. "Eventually, we'll even be linking schools over the U S WEST network, so students in Washington could work on a VRRV project with students in another state, simultaneously." Prancan also emphasized the project's value in reaching "at-risk" students, by making learning more interesting. The first van is already visiting Seattle-area schools and will eventually move to eastern Washington. The visits are being arranged with Washington school districts and the Pacific Science Center. A second phase of the project will begin in Nebraska this fall, followed by a third, in another state, late this year or early next year. Teachers and school administrators who are interested in the project can contact Sharon Kirkbride at the HIT Lab, phone 206/616-1498. Before the press demonstrations today, U S WEST vice president Dennis Okamoto called the technology "one of the most exciting stories in education in this decade. "This is not an arcade game, my friends. This is using today's technology to solve tomorrow's problems, and putting that technology in the hands of the generation that will need it." -- more -- -- 4 -- Okamoto said the Foundation became interested in the project because the Foundation, like its benefactor company, is working to develop technologies that improve peoples' lives. Speaking for the HIT Lab, project director Bill Winn noted that "this project allows us to integrate high technology directly into school curricula and, more important, to evaluate virtual reality as a teaching tool." The U S WEST Foundation is one of the largest corporate foundations in the Western United States. The Foundation manages charitable contributions and grantmaking programs on behalf of U S WEST Inc., and its family of companies. In 1994 the Foundation disbursed more than $26 million. The Washington Technology Center is the state-funded enterprise that supports the development of commercially promising research and technology of direct benefit to the economic growth of Washington state. ###