Ray Krenek states in his article, Immersing Students in the Curriculum, that virtual reality is defined as "a computer system used to create an artificial world in which the user has the impression of being in that world with the ability to navigate through the world and manipulate objects in the world." He feels that this type of immersion is missing from traditional education and may be one of the reasons students are often bored with traditional school practices which often lack this immersion and may be almost totally dependent on the drill and practice type methodologies. He states that the use of virtual reality as an assistant in education is supported by recent research and can be useful in any number of curricular areas. A recurring theme in the literature on VR suggests that students will learn well from interacting with VR because they are engaged in the learning process.

The following link explains exactly what QTVR panoramas and object movies are and what their capabilities are.

• QuickTime is Immersive

QTVR can be used in science as a tool to provide students with visual opportunities they might not otherwise have. It can be used to photograph demonstrations that might not be conducive for viewing by large groups. It can also be used to view objects which may not be readily available to you or your students. The link below to 3-D Human Anatomy is a perfect example of using QTVR on the web to provide students with interactions and visual aids that are not available in all anatomy or biology classrooms. In science, educators strive to provide their students with real-world, hands-on experiences. VR has the ability to do just that!

The following links provide examples of the use of QTVR for science applications:

• Sample Panoramas on the Web
• Sample Object Movies on the Web

The VR Toolbox QTVR Curriculum uses the example of illustrating the effect of darkness on the growth of sprouted seeds over a period of time and comparing it to the growth of the same species over the same period in a normal, lighted environment using object movies. Download a demo version of VR Worx today and create your own science object movies.

Links to Educational and Research Sites:

• 3-D Human Anatomy
• 2-D and 3-D Medical Education Structures
• VR in Schools-An Electronic Research Journal

QTVR can be added to presentations and web pages to create interactive media.

Adding QTVR to your PowerPoint presentation:

To add QTVR to your PowerPoint presentations, open Microsoft Office, open the PowerPoint presentation in which you want to add your QuickTime VR. Go to the slide on which you want to add the movie, go to the Insert menu, choose Movie and select Movie from File. Find the file you want to add and press the open button. The movie controller toolbox will open which will allow you to drag your movie to the correct location on the slide. That's all there is to it!

Adding QTVR to your web pages:

When adding QTVR movies to your web pages, include the height and width of the movie and add 16 pixels for the movie controller at the bottom of the page. For example, if your movie size is 320 x 240, the dimensions for adding to a web page will be 320 x 256. Adding the following html code will embed your movie in a web page, just as you would add an image.

<embed src="name.mov" width=320 height=256 controller=true>

Note: You will replace the "name.mov" with the name of the movie you wish to embed in the web page.

Additional commands can be added. The following QTVR tutorial goes into more detail on how to add commands and the different ways in which you can add QTVR to your web pages.

• HTML Scripting for QTVR Movies
• Embedding QuickTime for Web Delivery
• QuickTime is Interactive

"Streaming" is the process of delivering media in a steady, continuous stream to your computer. An example of a media event could be a webcast, a radio broadcast, a television show or a movie clip which is stored or fed from a remote location. The following links explain more on streaming QTVR and its use on the web.

• QuickTime is Streamable
• Preparing media for Streaming

QTVR supports the creation of hot spot areas, which function as invisible links to other QTVR panoramas, QTVR objects, QTVR scenes, or other media such as graphics, text, videos, sounds or web sites. When you mouse over an area which contains a hotspot, the hotspots become visible with a change in the cursor image. The images below indicate the change in the cursor as you pass the mouse over an area that contains a hotspot.

The following links will show you how to create hotspots in your QTVR creations:

• Making Hotspots in Nodster or and VR PanoWorx
• The HOTSPOT Parameter: Using Hot Spots to Link Web Pages
• HREF Tracks

| Panoramas and Object Movies  | Learning to Use Technology  | Teaching With Technology |