Med Ed 3D (1)

I believe that much of the growth and potential for 3D in education will find a promising foothold in medical fields—in universities, medical schools, teaching hospitals, surgery centers, continuing education offerings for various health professionals, and patient education. Three recent international examples support my humble hypothesis. In next three of posts, I will feature these examples, one at a time. Our first example is in the field of dentistry.

Dental Education

The Australian Dental Association (ADA) can’t let the U.S. optometry community garner all the attention in 3D these days. The ADA is piloting a Panasonic 3D HD solution for streaming dental and medical training. Read the full story here.

Model 3D Classrooms

Here’s some news of note for teachers, professors, manufacturers, developers, integrators and thought leaders in the 3D in education space. This year, 3DComm at InfoComm (for the first time ever) will focus entirely on the role of 3D in education. You can read about this unique program and focus here: 3D Education . 

The event is scheduled for June 12^th in Orlando and features a robust new idea: a 'live' model 3D education classroom and prototype 3D training room. I very much like that sort of thinking. And the cost for attendees is a mere $99, which makes it affordable for those of us who are working K-20 educators. (Sponsors pay a higher fee to participate.) It sounds like a good opportunity!

Implementing 3D (Part 3)

This is the final post in my series offering advice about implementing 3D projects in your own setting. If you are in a state of planning, each tip is  an important strategy for implementing a 3D pilot project in a school or university setting.

Tip #3

It’s also important to find and use integrators. In a Future-Talk 3D post long ago, I spoke about the vital role of integrators in implementing and supporting 3D projects in classroom settings.

An integrator is a company that can help ‘integrate’ the disparate pieces involved classroom 3D projects, whether at the K-12 or university level. An integrator can help identify the needed hardware components, help you identify high-quality 3D glasses, offer sound technical advice, provide helpful technical support, solve problems over the long-haul, and even suggest appropriate 3D content.

In a word, an integrator can help simplify often confusing 3D technologies, making your road toward instructional success much easier and trouble-free. Most importantly, they can prevent you from making costly mistakes. I have recently updated my list of trusted 3D-capable integrators. These folks know their business. Some of them are better at individual PC or small setting installations; others are better at large scale installations, such as classrooms. They know 3D and I know their work. Presented in alphabetic order, they are:

3Dlivesurgery (Europe)

Aulanova (South and Latin America)

AV Rover (international)

Boson (U.S.)

Conference Technologies (U.S. University venues)

Convergent Solution (U.S.)

Eon Reality (international)

Mechdyne (University, military and high-end venues, Intl)
Nvidia (U.S.)

Okulda 3D (Turkey)
Reachout Interactives (International)

XpandD (international)

(If any of my readers also represent an integrator firm with which I am currently unaware, please leave a comment below, listing your web site; and please contact me via email, so that I can update my list.)

Implementing 3D (Part 2)

This is the second post in our series offering advice about implementing 3D projects in your own setting. If you are in a state of planning, each tip is an important strategy for implementing a 3D pilot project in a school or university setting.

Perhaps one of the most important lessons I have learned about implementing successful 3D installations or pilot projects is exemplified in this poster I recently crafted:

Think deeply about the truths in this poster. I am quite serious about this.

Come back next week for an insightful posting on Tip #3...