The use of 3D in Education or 3D in Ed is having a dramatic impact on displaying some very old data and offering new perspectives and insights in the process. Researchers at Harvard, including Egyptologist Dr. Peter der Manuelian, the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences’ Visualization Facility, and the Boston Museum of Fine Art are getting some help from 3D Modeling Software pioneer Dassault Systems (Boston, Mass.) in a “world’s first attempt…” They now have a complete map, plan and model, of the famous Giza Plateau according to Harvard’s Professor Der Manuelian. His Giza Plateau 3D model was developed in collaboration with Dassault (3D modeling software)

To do this, the group has included ancient data collected on glass plates from more than one hundred years ago and incorporate this into the new age display technology that pushes the boundaries of presentation forms into the realm of 3D. The immersive experience 3D provides is unique, offering a teaching tool that can be acquired nowhere else, going beyond traditional lectures and PowerPoint slide presentations. ”We thought it would be a great way to try to bring the students in and expose them to Giza at a scale and in a way that they just they just can’t experience in a regular classroom,” Der Manuelian said.

The Harvard Earth and Planetary Sciences’ Visualization Facility includes:

• 23’x8′ 3D cylindrical display (curved screen)
• Three edge-blended, high-resolution active stereo digital (Christie Mirage 2000) projectors
• 3D-Perceptions scaling unit (for edge-blending, geometry correction)
• Content source — Linux based O/S, 4 dual-core Opteron CPUs plus 128GB RAM, Nvidia Quadroplex D2
• Alternative content source — ScalableGraphics Windows DTC cluster, three Dell Precison PC (workstation), dual CPU, 48GB RAM, Nvidia FX Pro 5800, Mellanox Infiniband tertiary Linux image sources
• Stereo Graphics/RealD CrystalEyes Stereo Viewing eyewear

But it’s what’s taking place beyond the hardware that is perhaps impacting education most, developing virtual environments on what Manuelian calls “real archeology” with content gleaned from multiple sources from long-running expeditions like the (1905 to 1947) monumental work done by Harvard University-Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and directed by George Reisner. Over that forty-year period at “Harvard Camp” in the Giza plateau, Reisner collected “…thousands and thousands of glass plate photographic negatives, thousands of pages of notes, diaries, architectural plans, drawings and other recording systems,” Manuelian noted, and now being used to bring his present coursework to life.

The interim step came over the past 10 years, with help from the Mellon Foundation, to convert the vast body of Reisner’s work to digital. But the point is not to just converting this mountain of research into digital data, it’s applying the knowledge, converting data into understanding and new academic insights generated from a collaborative experience. This is perhaps where 3D in education can play a significant role and make a lasting contribution.

“Relationships are what come to the forefront when you’re able to view Giza in this kind of 3D environment,” Der Manuelian said. ”…just how big the pyramids are, where the streets and alleyways have been built, the large and small ones. More importantly, the matrix relationships are so key to studying these archeological sites,” he said. This comprehensive view gives researchers ”…a feel for those relationships. You can get a sense of what’s above ground… we can dive underground and do things that no mortal can do,” he said of his use of 3D in education.

We think the future of 3D in education is wide open as it has already begun to attract a new generation of students, familiar and comfortable with cutting-edge technology now presenting “ancient” data in brand new ways. Researchers like Peter der Manuelian see the use of  3D technology as “…the next logical extension” in education, a technology that can “…link all this material together,” as evidenced by his new millennium course work at Harvard breathing new excitement and lifeblood into the field. And perhaps more importantly, new discoveries from 3D’s new perspective on data resurrected from a lifetime of dedication in Reisner’s great body of work; not to mention the untold treasures of research still waiting in dusty academic halls for its time of resurrection in the new 3D immersive experience sunlight.