Multimedia designer Aaron Wintersong shows the animation he produced for the AR portion of iSci

Last Thursday members of the iSci Team gave a demonstration of the iSci project to members of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce.  Approximately 30 people visited the MOVE Lab and interacted with salt molecules via  AR, the Kinect System and Falcon Controller.  They also got the first peek at the multimedia book, what we are called the AppBook, that accompanies the project.  Next Tuesday,the iSci team will give a similar demonstration to the Legislative Staffers. We should have more of the AppBook finished by that time.

Greg Philbrook explains how the VMD works with the Falcon Controller and the Kinect Game System

Dr. Dene Grigar introduces the Seattle Chamber to the MOVE Lab and to the iSci Team

The trigger image for the first animation that comprises the augmented reality environment of iSci

We are in the midst of coding the AppBook for iSci’s first section of Module 1, the section relating to the study of the molecular structure of dry salt.  Students using the AppBook for this section are asked to interact with information provided via augmented reality and answer questions and comment about what they learn.  Augmented reality is comprised of animations triggered by an image on a poster.  Holding an iPad to the trigger image takes a student, first, from salt in salt shakers to a close up view of a salt crystal.  A second poster and trigger image takes a student from the crystal to the sodium and chloride molecules that make up the crystal.

Section 2, which we plan to complete by August 15, focuses on wet salt and asks students to interact with the Kinect and Falcon game systems.

Students access the module from a launcher icon on their mobile devices.  Tapping on the icon takes students to a welcome page where they will, on their first encounter with the module, access a quick animated tutorial about using the AppBook.  Following the tutorial, the screen shifts to the opening page.

Key to our work is the idea that the module is available for all smart devices, from phones to tablets, without needing to be accessed through Apple’s and Android’s markets.  Also key is that we take advantage of the affordances of the medium, particularly multimedia (e.g. video, sound, animation, words, music, 3D models) and the freedom for students, using mobile devices, to move around and engage kinesthetically with information.  Features like our “Notes” function allows students to share information with each other and their teacher and, so, enhances participation and engagement.  Additionally, the camera feature makes it possible for students to video or photograph themselves interacting with information so that they have a record of the day’s activity once students are home.

We have demos of iSci scheduled for August 1 of the Seattle Metro Chamber Leadership who are visiting Southwest Washington and WSUV and for August 13 of the legislative staffers for Washington State.

My personal goal for the project is to demonstrate that a study of art and the humanities goes hand in hand with STEM and that STEM cannot stand without either of them.

Screenshot of the iPad interface that will become part of the AppBook that Daniel will develop for the team

iSci welcomes CMDC major Daniel Spung who joined the team this week.  Daniel, who brings an expertise in web development and design, will work on the production of the AppBook for the iPad that houses the educational information that accompanies the project.  Daniel is currently a Fellow in the iPublishing Summer Initiative (IPSI) hosted by the CMDC Program and funded by a generous donation from Instructional Technologies, Inc.  In IPSI Daniel is learning to build templates for iPublishing software ITI has developed.  He will bring this knowledge to iSci.

On Tuesday, June 25, the iSci team will give a demonstration of our project to 60 middle school teachers and administrators. The event takes place at Frontier Middle School in the Evergreen School District. The demonstration focuses on the module we have been building for the last two months about salt crystals and will include the work we have completed with the augmented reality environment for the iPad, as well as the behaviors we have developed for Kinect and the WiiMote and the haptic feedback gained from the Falcon Controller. We will also be able to give a copy of the script for the AppBook we are creating that is envisioned as the textbook for the module.

The demo will be the fourth formal presentation we have given about our project since May, and it will be the first time we have travelled the project out of the MOVE Lab, where we are building it.