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Frontiers
HoloGlobe Exhibit Projects the Big Picture
February 1997
We all know the basic facts:
- Earth is a sphere.
- Earth's systems are dynamic.
- These systems interact.
And yet, because our planet is so big, and its
dynamic, interactive systems are so numerous, visualizing how the world
works has always been a challenge. Until now.
HoloGlobe, a new 3-D exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution's National
Museum of Natural History, shows how Earth's systems affect each other
and the globe as a whole. These are events that formerly we could see
only in the mind's eye.
Designed and built with initial funding from NSF's Geosciences Directorate,
HoloGlobe allows viewers to see the connections between atmospheric, oceanic,
geologic and biological processes.
There are no special glasses and no head-mounted displays. HoloGlobe
is created through a technology called high-definition volumetric display
(HDVD) and relies on a combination of sophisticated optical filters and
lenses to project images.
In creating the exhibit, NSF used existing technology which had been
developed for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The project
also involved the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National
Aeronautics and Space Administration, U.S. Global Change Research Program,
Silicon Graphics, and Dimensional Media Associates.
HoloGlobe, a 7-minute presentation narrated by actor James Earl Jones,
is on display at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History
in Washington, D.C.
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