Published Thursday, June 10, 2010

By Brent Maze | Alex City Outlook

Central Alabama Community College has new technology that makes holodeck on the starship Enterprise closer to reality.

The college unveiled it’s nearly $2.3 million Advanced Visualization Center at the Betty Carol Graham Technology Center to local leaders Wednesday.

Lew Bomar, director of the center, said this center has cutting edge technology that provides a digital learning environment that can connect with students, businesses and industries all over the world.

It also provides a completely simulated, interactive laboratory where people can simulate activities such as performing surgery or working on a piece of heavy machinery.

“One of our laboratories is similar to the holodeck on Star Trek,” Bomar said. “You could let students see a Beethoven on stage performing in a concert. It could be used to simulate life or death situation. You could simulate an emergency room or a surgical operating room and operate on a patient.”

This holodeck-type room is called the immersive learning lab, also known as the CAVE. It is a four-wall laboratory with 3-D projections on a person’s front, left and right, along with the floor.

Robert Rummells of NavTech, the company that designed and installed the center at CACC, said the room uses eight projectors, all of which are precisely calibrated to project 3-D images.

The center also has a visualization and broadcast studio, which is equipped with seven video cameras, green-screen technology and Internet connection. Students, businesses and industry leaders don’t have to be in the classroom to interact with the teacher.

“We have a chroma key where the instructor can be superimposed onto an image or animation,” said Sean O’Brien of NavTech.

“Students can connect to the classroom through Yahoo or Skype and collaborate with the class. It allows us to have broadcast quality in high definition. It can be broadcast on the Internet, send it to TV stations or use it for video conferencing.”

Other features of the center include:

• Tele-Presence Lab allows for virtual eye-to-eye contact and real-time interaction.

• Visual Learning Lab for simulation-based learning.

• Rapid Prototyping Lab, which has 3-D software to allow for virtual prototype and designing.

• Design and Development for troubleshooting and design modification.

In addition to the tour of the facility, community leaders participated in a videoconference in the ballroom of the Betty Carol Graham Center. There were some technical difficulties at first, but they were able to show how it worked.

Bomar said CACC received money through the Alabama Technology Network, which is funded by the Alabama Legislature. CACC, Wallace-Selma and Wallace-Hanceville all received grants for this program, but Bomar said all three are slightly different.

“Rep. Betty Carol Graham was instrumental in the college receiving this grant,” Bomar said. “There are some things that we have and they don’t have and vice versa. We’re very thankful to have this facility here in Alexander City.”