The award is the largest to date of the newly established Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ Applied Research Institute at IST.

Led by Eileen Smith, director of the E2i Creative Studio at IST, and Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ professor Patricia Bockelman, the university team is creating a next-generation, simulation-based learning and training system that will allow the researchers and their corporate collaborator to assess and review worker performance using simulations.

Schlumberger is the world’s leading provider of technology for reservoir characterization, drilling, production and processing to the oil and gas industry. The company will use the new programs to develop and ensure the competencies of new and existing employees.

Smith has been researching human performance at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ for more than 13 years.

“I am thrilled to be leading this effort, which builds on a strong foundation of understanding how to truly engage learners in their journey, with learner-focused curriculum, dynamic interactive learning experiences with appropriate technology, and analytics,” she said. “We intend to develop a system that will not only impart knowledge, but the understanding of how to apply that knowledge in any circumstance.”

Bockelman, who specializes in intelligent behaviors within technical environments, praised the academic-corporate collaboration.

“This project is an incredible example of how academic and industry collaborations promote innovation. We’ll be helping one of the world’s most influential companies improve human performance, which will allow Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ students to be on the cutting edge of globally distributed learning systems,” she said. ”By the nature of the scope and complexity of the project, we’ll be able to offer students a range of applied research experiences in a number of transdisciplinary contexts.”

The Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ Applied Research Institute was established to assist in securing large collaborative research projects and enhance the university’s interdisciplinary work and growing partnerships. Its goal is to help the university coordinate multidisciplinary responses to major projects and strengthen research across campus.

Researchers from 10 universities were recently chosen through a grant competition to receive developmental versions of the HoloLens, the first untethered holographic computer that allows users to view high-definition holograms and interact with the physical objects represented in the images. The units are not yet available commercially.

The customized headset weighs less than a laptop computer and allows users to view images with more reality than ever before with an advanced optical projection system that generates multi-dimensional, full-color images with low-latency.

“The HoloLens allows the user to see the mixture of the physical world around them and the 3-D image of a virtual object at the same time. The user can use natural gestures and voice and gaze direction to interact with the system and other users,” said Eileen Smith, director of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝â€™s E2i Creative Studio in the Institute for Simulation & Training. “It’s in essence a wireless, self-contained, computerized visualization łÜ˛Ôľ±łŮ.”

The team of Smith, Lori C. Walters, Robert Michlowitz and Alexia Mandeville from Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝, and Fran Blumberg of Fordham University, were awarded two of the units that have the capability of mapping a room and adding in holograms. Some of the other university recipients were Carnegie Mellon, Dartmouth, Virginia Tech, and University of California/Berkeley.

“We are thrilled to be around the table with such eminent research universities,” Smith said. “It’s an example of how much Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝â€™s reputation is growing in the research world.”

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝â€™s research project, Memory Lens: A Dynamic Tool for Capturing Societal Memory, will explore the capabilities of the HoloLens to facilitate the intergenerational transfer of knowledge about historical periods and gather what the team calls “micro-oral histories” (MOH).

The centerpiece of Memory Lens is intergenerational learning through child-adult interaction, according to the proposal. The experience is an interactive correspondence that recreates the gestures of the HoloLens users to examine preloaded and user-generated content based on a topic or era. Objects can be 3-D models, photographs, video, audio, and related micro-oral histories. Users learn through interaction with the virtual objects, the contribution of oral histories and scanned materials, and the personal reflections that are triggered between users on both ends of the conversation.

“The HoloLens will be the interface for an experience using 3-D and other objects that provide discussion cues to facilitate elders’ sharing of personal MOHs,” the team said. “Users also can capture 3-D objects to be added to the experience, thus creating a dynamic intergenerational sharing and learning platform.”

For example, if a child and grandparent were on the HoloLens and there was an image of a small Saturn V rocket, the child may inquire about the grandparent’s remembrances of the lunar landings.

“The grandparent may then talk of where they were when Neil Armstrong first set foot upon the moon and how it inspired them to become an engineer,” said Walters, content specialist for the HoloLens project and a research assistant professor with the Institute for Simulation & Training and Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝â€™s Department of History. “The concept utilizes objects, in this instance a model of a Saturn V, to spur intergenerational conversation. They can manipulate the 3-D object and their recorded conversation is the micro-oral history.”

Walters’ research interest is “virtual heritage,” a multi-disciplinary approach using the latest digital technology to explore the past.

Earlier this year, the Microsoft grant program challenged academic institutions to submit ideas to harness the potential of the HoloLens and holographic computing.

“The submissions exceeded our expectations,” Microsoft said. “We were blown away to observe such creative, compelling and promising academic applications for HoloLens across art, medicine, visualization, education and more.”

But is that really the case? 

I’ve lately been pondering whether many of us are losing track of the need to “stop and smell the roses,” as the cliché goes.

Technology is a wonderful connecting toy, and we have many of those toys to choose from – desktop and laptop computers, mobile devices, tablets, you name it. Most of us have several of them.

But what’s happened to the idea of just turning away from all of that and just relishing the time we have with those around us? Or, heaven forbid, just being by ourselves for a while and thinking?

As part of an interactive-entertainment class that I teach in my digital media courses at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝, there is a reality-to-virtuality continuum graph that we discuss. The graph demonstrates that our imagination can be stimulated along a range of physical to virtual experiences. Alongside physical things such as theme parks and magic shows, and virtual things such as films, and a mixture of both in “augmented reality,” there is a spot called “lucid dreaming.”

When students see that, there is invariably a laugh from most and we move on. But lucid dreaming may in fact be the most intriguing spot on that continuum. For it’s the one spot where we as humans release ourselves from technology, conventions, and social norms – and just think. We allow our brains to disconnect with deadlines and responsibilities and just take us wherever our imagination leads us.

So what’s the “main thing” I mention in my column headline? Well, in my mind, it’s remembering that we only go through this life once. For every new technology that we get attached to, are we using it to make that one trip through life richer, more meaningful, more important to our journey? Not usually.

Many times, that technology is just used to fill time – as though we have time to spare, which we don’t. We don’t know how much time we have left in this life, and as the Tim McGraw song says, “Live like you were dying.” 

This topic might read to some as slightly morbid; it’s not meant to be. I’m an eternal optimist, but I’m increasingly struck by the disconnect I see in restaurants between folks sharing a meal while immersed in their phones rather than really sharing the time together.

A news program recently reported on a story about a group of young women who agreed to lock away their phones and iPads for two weeks, which nearly devastated them. They described going through withdrawal, feeling like they couldn’t function for several days.

And then something happened. They started living in the moment, talking to the people they were around at any point in time, really experiencing what was going on in their environment. At the end of the two weeks, they described having made a breakthrough in feeling comfortable in their own skin, being aware of their surroundings in a whole new way, and relishing just talking to friends – and even strangers if they needed directions.

So then they were given their phones back, and in 10 seconds, each was busy in their own world with their phone, texting, tweeting, checking in online. Their favorite message: “I’m back!”

So, how will you change your life and live more in the moment, in the reality of where you are now, and celebrate each step in life’s journey?

Simulation is the process of imitating something, and humans have been doing simulations for centuries. In my field, simulation is a training tool for understanding time, place and scale, and with advanced computers the possibilities of imitating have grown exponentially.

This week Orlando is hosting one of the largest simulation conferences in the world. The Interservice/Industry Training Simulation and Education Conference brought approximately 20,000 attendees here from more than 50 countries to learn about the hardware, software and engaging scenarios that create effective simulation training and learning.

The technology is cutting-edge with an emphasis on both the scientific functionality and the engaging artistry that combine to create learner engagement.

As I ponder that future, it makes me think about past civilizations, ancient Greece and specifically Athens, and how the fundamentals of learning have not changed even as technology explodes in this current state of constant change.

In ancient Athens, education blended the creativity, imagination and design skills achieved by studying the arts with thoughtful reasoning, hypothesis exploration and problem-solving achieved by studying the sciences. Educated citizens, therefore, were those knowledgeable about both the sciences and the arts.

We would do well to remember Athens as we discuss strategic changes to degree-program structures in state universities. The current discourse that I see from various entities seems like there is the possibility of making some degree programs into what I would term ”second-class citizens” in the structure of their programs. It makes no sense to charge more for arts and humanities degrees – including digital media, art, film, psychology, political science, and history – than degrees in the sciences, math and engineering.

The thought is that by reducing the cost of STEM degrees (science, technology, engineering and math), the number of folks taking those degree programs would rise. That may be true, but to do that appears to put a “tax” on the artistic and humanities degrees. And that is troublesome to me.

We cannot sustain our $8 billion modeling and simulation industry in Central Florida without the artistic and humanities side of the coin. The human-centric simulation activities here – military, medical, learning and entertainment, to name a few sectors – require the engagement of the imagination. That engagement is a human-to-human activity, where our primary sense of vision is augmented by rich audio and interactive media.

The workforce needs professionals skilled in designing and developing those experiences from both the technical side and the artistic side, comprised of not simply very talented folks, but professionals skilled by studying the arts, humanities and design.

We have a challenge in our STEM education pipeline in the United States, and the challenge is greater for women and minorities in many of the scientific disciplines. Part of that reason is that the theoretical study of science and math often does not engage them. They want to better their world somehow, and many leave traditional science and math degree programs for sociology, psychology and the arts.

I was very interested in math and science growing up, yet I was not engaged in early college and ended up changing my major to speech and communications, with a sociology minor. Thirty years later I’ve come full circle back to a modeling and simulation environment, and my humanities training was absolutely essential for my understanding of where my research priorities can make a difference.

Students need to see the application of the disciplines to become or stay motivated to get that degree. Simulation is already written into Florida’s Common Core State Standards for K-12 education. When someone begins to create those learning simulations, they immediately realize they need both the scientific/technical minds and the artistic/humanities minds.

My simulation lab team represents the next generation of creative talent in both the sciences and arts. We could not produce engaging simulations without that breadth of talent.

It’s the evolution of storytelling. As humans, we inherently want to create narrative around new knowledge so we can understand how to incorporate that knowledge into our existing cognitive library.

Simulation in the early 21st century uses ever-advancing computer technology, but without artistic design and narrative building, the technology does nothing.

I learn at my own pace, with my own methods, and make my own connections as they relate to my life, both personal and professional. I feel confident in my ability to find answers to questions that I have, either on my own or by connecting with someone who has the answers. I say this as someone with a high level of self-empowerment and self-confidence.

So how can we as a society infuse the ability for every child in school to feel like me?

Every child knows how to learn. Watch 2-year-olds and see how they figure things out every moment of their day. 

We need to have educational systems that are geared toward empowerment and encouragement, rather than, as a friend said, “systems that drive kids into conformity and don’t encourage unique discoveries, interests and perspectives.” We need to be actively engaging them in their learning, and creating tools that grow the natural engagement and unique perspective that they have been developing since birth. It’s a lifetime skill to use every day as their future unfolds.

An interesting strategy being tested involves turning the idea of homework on its head: Use “introductory homework” as a way to present a topic in a variety of modes (reading an article, playing a learning simulation, watching a video) to attain a basic understanding of a topic, and then attend class to discuss it in more depth.

That allows the classroom environment to be used for active discussion of something familiar to learners in unique ways depending on the introduction they chose. For some topics the teacher absolutely needs to give guidance. However, we must make sure that we don’t stifle each student’s personal approach before they get a chance to get excited about a topic.

And as class discussions progress, the teacher has opportunities for layering content onto the students’ deepening understanding.

Today’s technology offers an interesting array of tools to aid in that learning process. There are many quality simulations for learning that teach a specific fact or phenomenon with a short interactive game or a video. These are useful and necessary to give a basic understanding of a topic – and then the time is ripe to place learning into the everyday context and let students play with variables in simulations to see the results.

Experimental learning through play (another term for hypothesis testing) is hard-wired into us as mammals.

Interesting opportunities for research into successful learning can be pursued by designing simulations that are more like playgrounds, offering the learners the opportunity to choose their involvement and customize their level of engagement.

For a first exposure to a topic, any learner wants to just “poke around” and see what’s interesting – just like students visiting a science center, for instance, as they first enter a large exhibition hall and run from one exhibit to another. That can develop interest on the topic and motivation to explore about it, a key element in learning.

Once introduced during “homework,” the topic is expanded upon in class with discussions and challenges in class groups, raising the performance level of students in an environment overseen by dynamic teachers.

Then students can return to the simulation they first used as a “homework introduction” to work on higher-level experiences, using that new knowledge and understanding gained from classroom discussion.

Students would be satisfied that wow – they ARE successful learners!

Then perhaps they would be off and running to tackle the next lesson on their own.

As Albert Einstein said: “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” His point was that a vivid imagination is essential to the pursuit of knowledge.

One of the best ways educators can accommodate this is to engage a student’s imagination through simulation. Failure is absolutely a possibility, however, and that is one thing that makes interactive simulations exciting as a learning tool.

Simulation, at its most basic stage, is imitation – of roles, processes, or conditions. 

We have been doing simulation for centuries, if not millennia, starting with storytellers recreating a past event and leading us on an imaginative journey. 

Simulation technology had its beginnings in the 1930s when Edwin Link created his Link Trainer to reduce the cost of training pilots. His machine was a skills trainer that helped pilots fly using only instrumentation, and became invaluable during World War II for training. This set the stage for the widespread application of simulation training in the aviation industry.

That begs the question, however, of whether simulation should be the only way in the future that people learn? No, no and no.

The use of simulation is not always the best solution for instruction; the best training/learning regime combines the appropriate technology for the educational situation. If you want to help someone understand the basic interaction of oil and water, for goodness sake you don’t need simulation! Just pour water in a clear glass, add some oil, and swish it around. The direct learning experience of the glass and visible interaction between the oil and water are all that is needed.

However, if you want to explore time or scale, for instance, simulation is a valuable tool.

Simulation can help make the invisible visible.

If you want to explore prehistoric Florida, I can use a simulation to take learners back 65 million years ago to the Cretaceous Period. If you want to teach students about nanotechnology, I can create simulations changing the scale of the particles so they can be more easily manipulated. 

Interactive simulation – a blend of content, technology, processes and objectives – all revolve around the most important person in the learning picture: the learner. And more learning takes place in interactive environments than in passive ones.

Interactive simulations are designed to put learners into a dynamic situation where they seize ownership of the scenario from the simulation designers. As opposed to a training video – where the developers decide what information to present, what order to present it, and what factors drive the events – in an interactive simulation the learner drives their experience. 

Rather than passive learning, active learning is taking place with shared control of the outcome. As decisions are made by the learner, the simulation reacts with good or bad results toward the end goal.

Failure is a powerful learning experience; we arguably learn more from our failures than our successes.

That is especially true if we can systematically examine our failures to explore why we failed. We can capture with the computer every move a learner makes, when they make that movement, and track their decisions over time. So the “what” and “when” questions are answered objectively by the computer.

This allows the human trainer/educator to focus on what computers do not do well: examine the “why.”

That makes the computer and the human instructor a compelling team, and jointly, a powerful tool for learner success.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ Forum columnist Eileen Smith is director of the E2i Creative Studio in the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝â€™s Institute for Simulation & Training and can be reached at esmith@ist.ucf.edu.