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High-Tech
Interactive Watershed Exhibit Helps Users Learn about Watersheds
INDIANAPOLIS
(June 29, 2005) – A new exhibit at the Indiana State Museum lets
you select a storm that dumps more than half a-foot of rain
across the state, flooding river banks and sending millions of
gallons of water gushing through the state's watersheds.
The storm event
plays out in minutes on a Percep Table, a top-down display
device that uses a projector to throw an image onto a horizontal
table, showing how watersheds link one part of Indiana to
another.
Developed by the
Center for Earth and Environmental Science (CEES) at IUPUI and
the Pervasive Technology Labs at Indiana University, the display
is called “Watching Your Watershed.” It is located on the third
floor of the museum in Tomorrow's Indiana, an area of the museum
that demonstrates how choices made today will influence the
future.
Watersheds are
particularly appropriate when it comes to examining how choices
affect the future, said Lenore Tedesco, director of CEES. “As
watersheds become more urbanized, more water and more pollutants
flow into streams and rivers.”
On the Percep
Table, that idea is graphically shown, with visitors able to
select a map of the state showing counties or watersheds. The
motion of a wooden tool, bearing reflecting infrared tape, is
caught by an overhead camera and passed along to a computer. The
computer then triggers action on the Percept Table, such as a
display of data or a storm event.
One of five
storm events in Indiana can be triggered, including the flood of
July 4, 2003, when seven inches of rain fell on the state in 24
hours. When a storm event is triggered, clouds swoop across the
state and rain begins to fall. Computer generated tables show
the volume of water in rivers rising as they pass through
various cities, particularly as the water flows south. At
certain points, the flow of water edges into a yellow warning
zone and then into a red flood zone before gradually subsiding
to a normal level.
The display
shows how scientists monitor water quality and stream flow in
Central Indiana watersheds. “The interactive technology enables
visitors to explore geospatial information about Indiana and see
how water connects their neighborhoods to a larger community”
said Polly Baker, director of a Pervasive Technology Lab.
According to
Tedesco, the display is intended to spark interest in
discovering how Hoosiers can live as members of an
interconnected water system defined by local watershed and learn
ways to be environmental stewards. |
