A professor in industrial education and technology has earned an $860,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to fund further research, production and equipment for a low-cost virtual reality software program.

Shana Smith, assistant professor in industrial education and technology, started creating the software more than two years ago with the hope of developing a program to aid students in the visualization process of creating models. She also wanted to keep the cost of the software minimal to make it more readily available than other 3-D programs.

“Ford and General Motors use virtual reality in their design process already, so I think it’s good for students to know about this technology so it won’t overwhelm them,” Smith said.

The grant will fund projectors, summer workshops, evaluators and other personnel, she said.

“Some personnel from curriculum and instruction will design rubrics and give us comments about how to integrate this technology into the classroom,” Smith said.

Evaluators from the Research Institute for Studies in Education will survey and assess the project while Iowa State’s Virtual Reality Applications Center helps with the technology aspect.

Adrian Sannier, a professor in industrial and manufacturing systems engineering and the associate director of the Virtual Reality Applications Center, is working on the project with Smith to help design display systems.

“Virtual reality adds an extra level of realism for students by using computer technology to design and evaluate things before actually making them,” Sannier said.

Next semester, Smith plans to pilot test virtual reality tools and models at Des Moines Area Community College and Iowa Central Community College. “We will choose one course from each institution to do the pilot test and then revise our project,” Smith said.

The grant will provide funding for a projector for each institute. Smith also hopes her software will be brought into high schools in the future.

This summer there will be workshops for community college instructors and high school teachers as well as for high school students.

“The purpose of this project is to improve students’ 3-D visualization skills and increase their interest in design,” Smith said.

“We want to show them what up-to-date visualization and design technologies are available in the market because we don’t want our education to be behind the current technology.”

The project will be displayed during this summer’s Career Day to demonstrate it to high school students. Smith said the focus will be on minority and female students who will have an opportunity for hands-on experience with virtual reality and also introduce some design programs.

Smith said she hopes other disciplines will use her program in the future since it is currently being used exclusively in graphic and design courses.

Sannier said he believes once this technology becomes more affordable, people from other disciplines who have a hard time visualizing things will use the technology. Some day, by using virtual reality technology, a group of students could virtually walk through the pyramids together, which is an experience that is simply not available right now, he said.

Smith said there is a project Web site in progress and when it is finished she hopes instructors from other institutions will be able to look at it and learn about the program and how it can be integrated into the classroom.

“I think most people are visual learners and if you show images from some better quality models, people will be more engaged in class material,” Smith said.