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Seeing the world in 3-D at YSU
The Vindicator (Youngstown)
Photo
Brad Shellito, geography professor at Youngstown State University, dons 3-D glasss while demonstrating the geography department’s new GeoWall 3D projection system inside the Phelps building on campus.
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
Three-D — it’s not just for movies anymore.
The geography department at Youngstown State University recently finished renovation of its GeoWall 3D projection and visualization lab.
It allows students to view large amounts of geographic data in three-dimensional form, including animated maps, earth-block diagrams and other environmental applications.
“It provides more of an immersive effect,” said Craig Campbell, geography department chairman.
Bradley Shellito, geography professor, said the technology allows students to visualize maps, topography the way it actually appears.
An image of the Meteor Crater in Arizona, for example, shows the actual depth. An image of the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the Earth’s oceans, shows the formations as well as pinpointing earthquake zones beneath.
The system includes two projectors, two filters to polarize light and a special screen.
“With old movies, it used to be called the silver screen,” Shellito said. “It’s the same concept here.”
The screen preserves the polarization of the light.
Just like at the movie theater, you have to wear the special glasses to see the three- dimensional effect.
The whole system cost about $12,000.
Shellito says the students who have seen the new technology have been impressed with its capabilities.
So far, it’s been used in physical geography and remote sensing. But there are plans to use it in classes that cover geographic information systems and global-positioning systems too.
In one of his classes, Shellito assigns students to create a campus map. The wall will be useful in that application.
The technology is used by the U.S. Geological Survey and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, Shellito said.