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Special Section >> Inside Purdue's Envision Center
5/26/2005
www.accessgrid.org). The AG allows participants from many geographically distant sites to communicate and collaborate with each other easily and inexpensively (see the visual, right). But unlike traditional videoconferencing, it runs over Internet2, using open source software developed by Argonne National Laboratory (www.anl.gov). The software is quite flexible, allowing each site to operate using a variety of hardware setups that range from individual laptop-based nodes to large classrooms with multiple projected displays. And by creating shared applications and tools, the AG also allows participants to share more than just video streams. In Spring 2004, the Envision Center developed an Introduction to Virtual Reality course jointly taught by faculty at Purdue and Indiana University, via the Access Grid. The class was also offered in Fall 2004 by Purdue and Iowa State University. Notably, a student in the spring class launched the development of AGJuggler, a toolkit that allows sharing of virtual environments and stereographics over the Access Grid.Other capabilities. Over and above these components, the Envision Center also features a variety of elements such as high-resolution displays and portable stereo displays that can be used in classrooms to enhance instruction through the use of stereo graphics, sensing and haptic devices (a haptic device allows a user to interact with a computer by receiving tactile feedback), nano-manipulation haptic devices, and other high-performance computing resources. These elements allow researchers at the Envision Center to focus on pure research activities also. For example, at the recently concluded Measured Response Workshop organized by the Purdue Homeland Security Institute (www.purdue.edu/DiscoveryPark/phsi), researchers at the Envision Center unveiled a new type of large, high-resolution display that promises a wide range of immediate applications.
Future Directions
How do students who have been a part of Envision react to the experience? One student participant pretty much summed it up: “Doing this has really taught me much more than anything I’ve learned in class.” And in fact, an important goal of the Envision Center is to provide such real-world research experience to students grounded in critical examination of various scientific concepts learned in the classroom. To this end, the Envision Center is continuing to explore the possibilities of linking classroom education with real-world research efforts. Students currently enrolled in various courses at Purdue, including courses such as Introduction to Augmented Reality, continue to team with researchers to produce classroom products that have direct and immediate use as mainstream data perceptualization tools. The center has also launched the new program, Envision Discoverers, wherein Purdue students can engage in informal learning about visualization tools and gain hands-on experience with the center’s scientific capabilities—all without the constraints (deadlines and grades) that are associated with forcredit classes. With its myriad facets, the Envision Center expects to make a significant contribution to bridging discovery and learning in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.Cite this Site
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