TracStar
In the early summer of 2006, Professor Phil Peters led a group of UCF students on a research trip to the desert of Utah and North Arizona. Their research project was to document remote film locations and how the landscape played an important role in historic western films equal to that of the characters. Through the immersive experience of the trip the students were subjected to the same harsh conditions as the pioneering filmmakers. The expedition proved successful, gaining recognition from newspapers and film scholars for developing a new mode of student education in which students interact with the natural environment. With this success came the demand to increase the number of participants on the field team. To maintain the immersive nature of the trip it was decided that it is essential to keep the field team limited to 10. With this in mind, research began to find the appropriate technology to solve this problem.
Interactive Expeditions has been designed to enable a field research team based in a remote location to interact with participants scattered throughout the World Wide Web. The participants can be gathered as classrooms or log in as individuals around the world. With the use of mobile satellite communications the team will send streaming content to a university based-server, where users can login and communicate with the field team in real-time. The web portal allows the participant to view what is currently happening on the expedition, communicate with the team through chat, as well as access archived data and video of what has already occurred. The web space emulates a feeling of actually being on the expedition.
» PROJECT WEBSITE: Cowboys With Cameras
» PROJECT WEBSITE: Cowboys With Cameras
