How to inspect a shoreline without getting your feet wet
Request: Create a Virtual Fieldtrip
For this 3D design project, our development team (video and instructional design) used the technology to create a solution for David Harper, Program Head for BCIT’s Ecological Restoration program, and Stewardship Centre BC, sponsors of an environmental restoration initiative called Green Shores for Homes (GSH). GSH is a “voluntary, incentive-based rating program [that] helps waterfront homeowners restore natural shorelines … and minimize the environmental impact of waterfront property development.” Owners and property developers can make ecological improvements that earn credits for benefits such as tax incentives, reduced fees, or expedited permits.
Harper had partnered with the Stewardship Centre to create an online version of their training course, which usually involves a one-day outdoor workshop on Vancouver Island. He had previously taken the workshop for his personal PD and recognized it as a valuable tool for his own students; the Stewardship Centre, for their part, wanted to expand their reach off the island and west coast. The complication with creating an online version of such a course is that the valuable hands-on learning component is completely missed, hence the need for it to be interactive. This problem brought Harper to the LTC to explore whether a virtual solution could be developed to replicate the outdoor learning experience.
Solution Requirements
Through discussion, the team identified some key technological and instructional needs for Harper and the Stewardship Centre:
- to replicate a field scenario through something more than photos and videos
- to allow students to identify, observe, and assess the relative position and size/scale of the various shoreline features, the topography, the slope of the property and the surrounding landscape, and site disturbances
- to create a virtual walk along the shoreline that was, most importantly, user-guided and user-friendly
- to design a lesson based on a real-world task where learners manipulate objects, receive feedback, evaluate and interpret physical features, and form new ideas
The Technology Solution
To create this virtual world, we filmed the shoreline scenes with an Insta360 Pro VR camera. We use this technology to take still images or video and wrap them into a sphere that lets people look around in all directions, zero in on hotspots, and jump to different markers in the scene. The camera works by capturing image or video files from six lenses with a 190-degree field of view, and the files are then processed with software that stitches the images into 3D or panorama formats. Hotspots containing photos, 3D images, web links, pdf files, and other components can be added to the scenarios. Shots can also incorporate 3D audio, which wasn’t necessary for this project but has been useful for worksites involving equipment with safety concerns.
The Educational Product
Combining instructional strategies and video technology, the resulting educational product for this request adapted a face-to face class to a virtual environment, replicating an authentic learning experience for students. Not only is Green Shores now a regular part of Harper’s first-year field skills course, but it’s also offered as a BCIT microcredential that’s become popular with learners on the other side of the country, meeting the aim for the Stewardship Centre of BC as well.
