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| Paper: |
Long-Term Audience Impacts of Live Fulldome Planetarium Lectures for Earth Science and Global Change Education |
| Volume: |
443, Earth and Space Science: Making Connections in Education and Public Outreach |
| Page: |
187 |
| Authors: |
Yu, K. C.; Champlin, D. M.; Goldsworth, D. A.; Raynolds, R. G.; Dechesne, M. |
| Abstract: |
Digital Earth visualization technologies, from ArcGIS to
Google Earth, have allowed for the integration of complex, disparate
data sets to produce visually rich and compelling three-dimensional
models of sub-surface and surface resource distribution patterns.
The rendering of these models allows the public to quickly
understand complicated geospatial relationships that would otherwise
take much longer to explain using traditional media. At the Denver
Museum of Nature & Science (DMNS), we have used such visualization
technologies, including real-time virtual reality software running
in the immersive digital “fulldome” Gates Planetarium, to impact
the community through topical policy presentations. DMNS public
lectures have covered regional issues like water resources, as well
as global topics such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and resource
depletion. The Gates Planetarium allows an audience to have an
immersive experience–similar to virtual reality “CAVE” environments found in
academia–that would otherwise not be available to the general
public. Public lectures in the dome allow audiences of over 100
people to comprehend dynamically changing geospatial datasets in an
exciting and engaging fashion. Surveys and interviews show that
these talks are effective in heightening visitor interest in the
subjects weeks or months after the presentation. Many visitors take
additional steps to learn more, while one was so inspired that she
actively worked to bring the same programming to her children's
school. These preliminary findings suggest that fulldome real-time
visualizations can have a substantial long-term impact on an
audience’s engagement and interest in science topics. |
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