Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/54910
Researchers from UCF's Interactive Expeditions travel the world to create an interactive classroom thanks to FHTCC's Matching Grants Research Program. have taken this technology to some of the most remote areas of the world for testing, from the sandy deserts of Arizona and the arid climate of South Africa to the remote underwater caves in Bermuda and the diverse cultural landscape of India. Thanks to funding from the Florida High Tech Corridor Council's Matching Grants Research Program, Peters is testing the final technical features of the TracStar Ed-PAD. The key performance metrics target lag-time in communication between facilitators and students, amount of storage required to house and transmit online instructional content and the usability of the software features that enable unique access to active field research happening in locations around the globe. "The applications for using this program as a training tool in other industries are endless," said Alex Katsaros, project manager for the research team whose experience as a graduate and doctoral student on the project led to a career with Cobham. 22 florida.HIGH.TECH 2012 Industry and governmental agencies such as the Department of Defense and Homeland Security can explore new ways of connecting in-field operatives with stateside trainees. In addition to educational and training uses, new fields of telecommunication could grow from this software as well. Using methods similar to Interactive Expeditions,' equipment could be repaired remotely and in real-time by someone with little experience in a time-sensitive set of mechanical procedures. Another emerging field is telemedicine, already used by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, which allows patients in remote areas to speak directly to their doctor on an as-needed basis. Conversely, doctors traveling on remote medical missions could use the IntX collaborative network as a means of teaching medical students who will soon join them in the field. "Ultimately," says Katsaros, "it's about the immersive learning experience."