A Tempe company has developed a tool it hopes will revolutionize the way students learn, one virtual reality tour at a time.

Digital Tech Frontier, L.L.C. a company with a history for serving the entertainment industry and Corporate America, launched the Virtual Reality Development Lab, which allows students to both create and experience virtual Reality environments.

Students can create a virtual reality experience after visiting a place by using digital photography to create a 360-degree view of an area. Text, sound and other multimedia elements can be added to create a virtual reality experience using software.

For example, DTF has created a program based on 360-degree images from Machu Picchu in Peru. With a headset, users can move their head around to see different views, and with a mouse, click on different areas for more information.
The program was implemented in four high schools in Arkansas and recently was used on a trial basis with about 100 students at Tempe’s McClintock High School.

DTF Chief Executive and Creative Director Scott Jochim said he hopes to take the program statewide within the next three years. He calls the VRDL something exciting for students that still is soundly focused in education.

“We wanted to create a product that combines education and entertainment,” Jochim said. “Nothing developed so far had been effective and a lot of what was in schools wasn’t as good as what these students had at home.”

Jochim met with Arizona Department of Education Technology specialist Chris Castillo to showcase the product and said she was impressed.
“I can see how it would enhance instruction, and I’m excited about the possibilities,” Castillo said. “But the Department of Educations Does not endorse and products.

She added the state would not be doling out any money to districts to buy VRDL, but districts are free to purchase the system if they have the funding. Castillo also said some federal finding could go towards putting the program in schools.
”Id love to see the kind of integration in Arizona that has taken place in Arkansas,” Jochim said. “Some schools have built their own wings for it.”
He also said he’s not overly concerned that school districts won’t have the funding available for the program.

“We’ve found in the California schools that money can be pulled from different budgets because this is a cross platform item that can be used in many classes.”

Jochim said Desert Canyon Middle School in Scottsdale is already planning to purchase a system for the going rate of $12,000 and should have it up and running by the time school starts up in the fall. Other school sin the valley have inquired on an individual basis, he added.

Jochim said his company is “going door-to-door” with school districts in the state to gauge interest and try to get demos for teachers and students to try. He hopes that once a few districts purchase the system, others will follow suit over time.
With VRDL, students can shoot photographs and assemble a tour anywhere. The complete lab weighs about 30 pounds and comes in a waterproof travel case.

It includes all the equipment needed to capture 360-degree ceiling to floor, wall to wall environmental realities, including a high resolution digital camera, tripod, spherical lens and a flash media card.

VRDL also includes an instruction manual designed for students and an Apple PowerBook G4 with all the software required to produce and edit 360-degree environments and movies, create three-dimensional objects and incorporate virtual reality head-tracking capability.

The VRDL also contains a wide-screen head-mounted display, a head tracker and a gyro mouse and wireless receiver. Virtual tours can be viewed (in virtual reality format) on PCs, Macs, large screens and the Web.

Lisa Krumwiede, an instructional developer for DTF, was brought in by Jochim to help with the company’s recent educational initiatives.
“It is built on learning objectives,” she said. “These are problem based learning projects with a real world problem and environment. The learning is extended by exploring and doing research.”

Mike Turturice, a social studies teacher at McClintock High School, used the program as a supplement to a few lessons and loved what he saw from the students and the system.
“Its immersive environment makes it unique,” he said. “Students put on the glasses and they can see what they are studying.

“This is definitely something they would like to have back. It’s good for kinesthetic learners and a lot of kids are helped out by the audio and visual components.”

Turturice said if he can procure the funds, he would encourage the school to purchase a system.

Jochim said that one advantage of the system is that schools around the country will be networked to share different virtual reality tours that students have created.

“The educational benefit is phenomenal and it excites students,” Jochim said. “They don’t think of this as an educational thing, it’s more of a cutting-edge tool for them.