SimHub™:
A Shared-Cost Approach to Next Generation
Teach/Learning Technologies
Dr. Fred Baus,
UCG President & CEO
Dr. Stephen Bronack,
SimHub™ Director
Helen Landmesser
SimHub™ Project Manager
Background
• University Center of Greenville
• Trends
• SimHub™ Immersive Technology Center
Why use Immersive Technologies?
• We have a generation of "digital natives"
arriving at school and these levels of
technology and access are their standards.
• Many educators are "digital immigrants" and
are having to adjust their concept of what
learning means.
Why at a Consortium?
• Shared-cost environment
• Able to move process along more quickly
• Core Value: percentage of adult population
with higher education degrees
Developing Immersive Tech Center
• Timeframe
• Costs
• Finding a Director
– Creating an environment that draws this kind of
talent
• Promotion
What is SimHub™?
• SimHub™ immersive
technology center
• Site for demonstration and
development
• Access to technology tools
• Access to support staff
• Opportunities for
collaboration & reinvention
Overview: Immersive Technologies
• Immersive technology refers to technology
that blurs the line between the physical
world and digital or simulated world, thereby
creating a sense of immersion.
• 21st century tools such as
- Virtual worlds - Simulations
- Serious games - Augmented reality
Virtual World
• An online, 3D collaborative
social space
• Graphical representations =
“avatars”
• Platforms:
•
•
•
•
Second Life
OpenSim (Reaction Grid)
Teleplace
Active Worlds.
• Literal or fantasy replicas
Example: Virtual Worlds
• University of South Carolina
Upstate Engineering Technology
Management Program
• Program included asynchronous
online lectures and evening
laboratory sessions
• Teleplace converted laboratories
and team meetings to online.
– Eliminated commute for students
– Enhanced instructor interaction
• Platform allows for sharing of
technical documents and
spreadsheets.
Example: Virtual Worlds
• Clemson University Parks,
Recreation & Tourism
Management
• Second Life provided students
the space to build a virtual
representation of the Masai
Mara Basecamp
– Promote Tourism
– Collaborated directly with
Kenyan Community
http://tinyurl.com/masai-mara-basecamp
Simulation
• SIMULATIONS offer realistic
experiences in controlled
environments.
• Pilot skill development before
flight
• Teacher education students
gain experience with classroom
management before teaching
• Simulations also offer the
opportunity to assess and
evaluate realistic behaviors.
Example: Simulation
LINK TO UCF VIDEO OR NEW TEACHME
SIMHUB VIDEO
Serious Gaming
• SERIOUS GAMES
– goal-driven environments
– educational purpose
– Role Player Games (RPGs)
• Immersion and group strategy
Example: Serious Gaming
"Chirality - Chemistry 2001". Nobelprize.org. 23 Feb 2011
http://nobelprize.org/educational/chemistry/chiral/
"DNA - The Double Helix". Nobelprize.org. 23 Feb 2011
http://nobelprize.org/educational/medicine/dna_double_helix/
Area: Augmented Reality
• AUGMENTED REALITY (AR)
•
•
•
•
•
GPS
Web
Mobile Devices
Real-time
Data-layer
• AR technologies range:
• simulated down lines on a TVbroadcast football game
• viewing a painting at a museum
through the camera on your
smart phone and information
overlaid.
Example: Augmented Reality
•
•
Bike Box is a mobile-media bicycle library and
interactive installation allowing participants
to check out cheap, durable, technologyenhanced bikes and a free open source
iPhone application developed for this
installation.
As participants pedal around central
Brooklyn, they are able to contribute sitespecific audio through the iPhone application,
as well as listen to a curated collection of geospecific sounds provided by a variety of local
land-use experts, historians, poets, artists,
and other interpreters.
http://www.sabinegruffat.com/BIKEBOX/
Example: Augmented Reality
•
•
Research in the field of augmented
reality is paving the way for a number of
new applications in BMW Service. BMW
Augmented Reality techniques provide
ideal support in maintenance work on
complex technical innovations in the
vehicle.
Using special data goggles and wireless
access to a powerful computer, BMW
mechanics have all the information at
their disposal, precisely where they
need it: in the workshop, at the vehicle.
http://tinyurl.com/bmwglasses
Grant Program
• Purpose
– catalyze research & curriculum development
• Guidelines
– Proposals < 2pgs
– Impacts Consortium-utilizing faculty & students
• Outcomes
– Publications
– Proofs-of-concept
Serendipity
• University Applications
• External Partners
• Collaborative Learning
Lessons Learned
• Realistic expectations?
• Frequent Questions?
• Needed resources?
• Faculty Resistance?
Developing Immersive Tech Center
21st century
workspaces
Financial &
Operations
Planning
Enabling
champions
SimHub™
Creation
University &
Community
Buy-In
Technology
Infrastructure
Faculty
Barriers
Contact Information
• Dr Fred Baus
CEO & President, UCG
fbaus@clemson.edu
864-250-1111
http://www.simhub.org
• Dr Stephen Bronack
SimHub™ Director
bronack@clemson.edu
864-436-1134
• Helen Landmesser
SimHub™ Project Manager
landmes@clemson.edu
864-250-8879
http://www.ucgreenville.org