Leo Is Here

A new 3D tool hit the U.S. for the first time (at both CES and TCEA), Leonar3Do.  Building on the metaphor of the engineering, design work, and creativity of the famous inventor/artist/engineer Leonardo daVinci, this group (and their U.S. reseller) offers a “mixed reality” stereo 3D desktop VR kit.  Check out this video to see how this technology conceptually works.  This company produces “an interactive tool that not only displays, but also integrates into your own personal 3D space.”  It features the bird, a special 3D handheld controller than enables the user to reach, grab, work and play with objects.  Currently, they are offering educational, professional, home, and conference center editions of their product. This tool advances the possibilities for student content creation, especially at the high school, college, and university level. For educators, this tool would make a strong basis for an excellent grant proposal.

ISTE 3D Preview

The ISTE 2012 educational conference, scheduled for San Diego in June, is offering four powerful educator presentations in the area of stereo 3D. Make plans to be there and learn about the latest in stereo 3D DLP technologies for the classroom. Click on any link to learn more.

When 3D Comes to Your School Saturday, 6/23/2012, 12:30pm–3:30pm Presenter: Len Scrogan, University of Colorado-Denver This is a comprehensive three-hour workshop on everything you need to know about creating a stereo 3D classroom or pilot project in your school or district.

3D in Education
Tuesday, 6/26/2012, 5:00pm–6:15pm
Nancye Blair, McKeel Elementary Academy with Len Scrogan

This is a birds-of-a-feather gathering for teachers or leaders interested in learning or talking about teaching with stereoscopic 3D. It is an open-ended discussion focusing on emerging resources and best practices for using 3D technologies to increase student engagement and learning gains.

Exploring 3D Technology in the Classroom: Strategies and Lessons Learned
Tuesday, 6/26/2012, 1:00pm–3:00pm
Carole Hruskocy, Regis University with Sandra Foster

How does 3D technology in a science classroom affect learning and teaching? Explore this emerging technology and find out the results from a third-year extension of the BVS3D research study, presented by University researchers in a two-hour stay-as-long-as-you-want poster session.

Teaching in 3D: Why It Works, Why It Matters
Tuesday, 6/26/2012, 10:00am–12:00pm
Presenter: Len Scrogan, University of Colorado-Denver

Discover how stereo 3D visualization technology is being used effectively in K-12 classrooms, how it affects student thinking and performance, and why it matters. Presented in a two-hour stay-as-long-as-you-want poster session. 

3D@Conferences

After attending FETC in Orlando, TCEA in Austin, and COSN in Washington, D.C., I came away with a fresh wind of perspective as the 2012 ed-tech conference season began in earnest.

Learnings from FETC

Stereo 3D was not well represented.  It was visibly on display only in two booths.  In addition, the displays were not that effective. Self-running demo loops simply won’t excite educators.  There are better ways to showcase stereo 3D capabilities, folks.

Stereo 3D is not well understood by conference leadership.  Although chosen as a presenter, none of my stereo 3D offerings were selected.  That decision perplexed me, so I wrote to the conference leadership asking why they did not select one of my 3D presentations.  “We already had several 3D presentations scheduled,” they claimed, and “didn’t see the need for any more.”   The answer was mystifying, but I accepted it at face value.  Who could possibly be presenting?  Fast forward.  The conference arrived.  Once I landed in Orlando, I took thirty minutes and reviewed every session offered during the conference, scouting for the previously mentioned stereo 3D sessions.  There were none.  But there were indeed three sessions being offered on “3D virtual worlds” (rendered-3D immersive worlds, like Second Life) and rendered-3D design tools, or rendered-3D animation.  But nothing on the visualization and learning advantages of using stereoscopic 3D.  As you can see, the conference leadership did not understand what stereo 3D is.  Why? It is not fully a part of their generation or their personal culture.  It is not yet on their radar.  It should be, but it is not.  But don’t ever think it is an unreachable goal.  We just need the right messaging.

Learnings from TCEA

Texas “gets” 3D.  Numerous sessions touched on 3D at TCEA, including a half-day workshop. The presentations were well received and packed with people.  New 3D math and science content was demonstrated that convinced even the stoutest doubters.  3D content was visible in a number of projection manufacturing and reseller exhibits. DLP 3D Lamp-Free Projectors were all the buzz, with four projector companies featuring DLP lamp-free projectors.  (To the educator, lamp-free means not paying for bulbs every year—at $350 a whack.  These projectors cost a little bit more, but pay for themselves in a year and a half. In some cases, the solution was expected to last for 20,000+ hours, or 10+ years in school terms.)  I saw models from Vivitek, BenQ, Casio, and Optoma.  Again, Texas ‘gets’ 3D.

Learnings from COSN

3D is the new kid on the block. A conference for technology leaders, 3D was clearly a new experience for most. Amidst the clamor and noise of cloud-based applications and 1:1 initiatives, folks who saw examples of great 3D educational content were quite impressed. Some of the discussions I had with interested educational leaders were promising.  Educational technology leaders simply need to see great examples of 3D (not movies), in order to begin their journey towards understanding.  

Think in 3D

The Panasonic HDC-SDT750 3D Camcorder

Some 3D educators are purchasing 3D video cameras these days, like the low-cost Panasonic model shown opposite, so that students can begin to make their own 3D content. This arena will be an increasingly important category of 3D content development in the future—student-created content. So, when asked by 3D educators to recommend a resource guide for teaching tips on how to film in 3D versus 2D, I can easily recommend a new book by 3D expert Clyde DeSouza. The book is called "Think in 3D.” It is quite easy to read, practical, and offers easy entry into this field. In particular, “Think in 3D” offers worthwhile educational and psychological insight about the effective use of the 3D medium.

Think in 3D

The kindle version can be located at: http://amzn.to/zKTb8c 

The paperback version can be found at: http://amzn.to/x3ryUq 

School Safety Update

The largest hands-on school safety exercise ever staged anywhere is taking place on May 2, 2012, in Pueblo County, Colorado—and with a 3D twist.

This crisis exercise will simulate a high-wind school building collapse resulting in a complex evacuation of 450 children, and the coordinated response efforts of 400 adults. If you’ve ever visited Colorado, you know the meaning of high winds.

This large-scale activity is custom tailored for major video production. The school district is providing three primary shooting locations, the school buses (for the evacuation), the school and district staff as actors, the children (with parental releases), and a new mobile communications unit designed by SchoolSAFE Communications. The county is providing first responders as actors from fire, law enforcement, and emergency management, as well as 5 ambulances, a rescue helicopter, fire equipment, and other public safety vehicles. All local media organizations will also participate, many providing reporters and news crews as actors in the simulation. VIP observers from across the state, coordinated by State Senator Steven King’s office, will observe the exercise and draft a final report. Funding for this activity was provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Department of the Army.  For further information, you can feel free to contact: johnsimmons@schoolsafetypartners.org

Now comes the 3D part. School Safety Partners and Panasonic will capture the entire event in stereo 3D, with the intent of producing classroom-based simulations and training segments for the school safety market. There remains a strong and burgeoning role for stereo 3D in school safety and emergency preparedness training.

Wanted Again: 3D Educators

The Opportunity

Presente3D, an innovative startup company, is looking for insightful educator feedback on their product. Presente3D enables 3D content creation through a truly easy-to-use and extremely flexible ribbon bar add-on to PowerPoint 2010. Their tag line is "taking 2D PowerPoint into the Third Dimension." It enables the educator, e-trainer, or student to turn their presentations into a 3D format, but more importantly, to turn any graphic or chart within a PowerPoint into a 3D object that can be manipulated in space and depth.

If you are interested in exploring this tool, you own PowerPoint 2010, and can provide in-the-field practical feedback as an educator, visit Presente3D's website to sign up for their 3D PowerPoint Beta program. If you want to contact them directly, do so at this email address. 

Wanted: 3D Educators

The following opportunity is being offered by the stalwart 3D company, Eon Reality: 

Apply to the International 3D in Education Program.

EON Reality is hosting a competition in which 30 schools from around the world (5 in North America, 5 in South America, 5 in Europe, 5 in Asia-Pacific, 5 in the Middle East, and 5 in Africa) will be selected to participate in the International 3D in Education program. Tell them how your school will use interactive 3D content in Education: the 30 best applications will receive a one-year license for interactive 3D content creation software that enables teachers and professors to create their own 3D learning applications and to use interactive 3D in their classroom. Download the application form at http://tinyurl.com/EON-3D-Education-Competitionand send it back to education@eonreality.com before April 30.

Opportunity Calls

This is a message primarily for 3D technology companies (hardware and software manufacturers, integrators, and resellers).

The Opportunity

You are invited to participate in a dynamic optometric educational session at the American Optometric Association's annual conference, being held in Chicago on June 30^th, 2012. The details of this opportunity are detailed in the document embedded below, along with contact information.

                                    Open publication - Free publishing - More 3d

The Business Case

There are two distinct benefits associated with this opportunity:

First, this is an opportunity to reach an elite group of consumers and their families. Optometrists are in the top 12.5 percent of households per total money income according to U.S. census data and the AOA’s Income from Optometry survey.

Second, this event also represents an opportunity to make sure doctors of optometry are sharing the message you would like consumers to hear—not only that 3D/S3D viewing is a safe and appropriate technology for all audiences, but that it can also uncover treatable vision problems.

Why It Matters

In 2011, efforts to increase awareness of the health benefits of 3D viewing resulted in more than a billion media impressions. But according to the AOA’s 2011 American Eye-Q® survey, there is still work to be done dispelling myths. Parents still reported some concern about the effects of 3D technology, with:

• 53 percent of respondents, whose children are 18 or younger, believe 3D viewing is harmful to a child's vision or eyes 
• 29 percent feel very concerned that their child may damage their eyes due to prolonged use of computers or hand-held electronic devices 

Don’t miss this chance to ensure your message reaches consumers through the collaborative strength of the American Optometric Association (AOA) and 3D@Home consortium.