Those of you with SMARTBoard technology in your classrooms know that technology is raising the bar when it comes to classroom presentation methodology. At some point, everyone's wondered what their teaching would be like if they had holographic technology (I'm not talking about CNN-Election-Night holography, I'm talking about Star-Trek-TNG-Holodeck stuff, here).
Behold: the Immersive Cocoon.
This is quite possibly the coolest AND scariest thing I've seen yet, technology-wise. 3-D display, interactive (using motion-capture camera technology and 360 degree projection), and designed by someone with a large SciFi DVD library. (The pod itself reminds me of those in 2001, The Fly, and The Matrix. Let's remember that in each of those films things didn't go so well for the good guys.)
Can you imagine a computer lab full of these? How about a classroom? Field trips become easier, distance learning gets another shot in the arm, homeschooling advocates develop drooling problems, and teenagers never see the light of day again. (Think I'm kidding about that last one? Can you imagine playing HALO in one of these things?)
You can read more about it here. Like any other developing technology, this is still very much a concept piece . . . but the group putting this together has a lot of other innovative ideas, which can be seen here.
The future is coming, everyone. Get ready.
