Using software that created special effects in movies like "Star Wars: Phantom Menace" and "The Lord of The Rings," a team of University of Colorado at Boulder geologists is pioneering the creation of interactive geologic displays and three-dimensional animated movies for museums and national parks.
Lead by Professor Paul Weimer, director of the Energy and Minerals Applied Research Center at CU-Boulder, the Interactive Geology Project is producing computer displays and animations for the Colorado National Monument, Utah's Canyonlands National Park, Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico and the Houston Museum of Natural Science. A few projects will be available for the public as early as spring 2005.
Weimer said test audiences at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science have responded positively to the team's initial productions, some of which show exactly how geologic processes shaped landscapes visible today. "The coolest aspect of it is watching little kids' eyes grow big," he said. "That means we're doing a good job."
Geo-animator Ryan Crow, an alumnus of CU-Boulder's department of geological sciences, said the team's work is unique.
"We're the only university research group working on these types of projects," Crow said. "Visualization has been used in research and oil exploration for some time. Now we're applying it to general geology education."
Researchers John Roesink, Jay Austin, Rick Coutre and Crow use desktop PC computers and a number of software packages to produce the animations and interactive displays. It's an involved process that begins with assembling remote sensing data, satellite images and geologic maps. The projects cover large areas with complex histories that make it challenging to design an accurate re-creation.
"It's holistic," said Roesink, who recently finished his master's degree in geology at CU-Boulder. "In geology, we usually look at just one aspect of a small area. With our projects, we have to compile a large amount of data and bridge the gap between induction and scientific hypothesis."
"In animating, when you're showing a complete area that's changing over millions of years, there are a lot of questions that come up," Crow said. "It takes a lot of work to make it as accurate as possible."
This spring, the team's video production of the Colorado National Monument's geologic history will begin showing at the park's visitor center. The 10-minute animation of the park landscape morphs in sync with a geologic time scale, allowing viewers to see how and when the area was part of a desert, an inland sea and a mountainous region. Narration and actual photos of the landscape enhance the presentation.
Similar projects produced by the CU-Boulder team will appear this spring on the Web site for Canyonlands National Park and at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Work on an animation of New Mexico's Carlsbad Caverns is set to begin production in early 2005.
"We're also going to be working on a five-minute animation of the northern skyline seen from the geology museum at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden," Roesink said. "The museum is home to a terrific mineral collection, and our animation will be seen by many of the 22,000 visitors they get every year, including all the fourth-grade students in the Jeffco schools."
Weimer's original vision for the Interactive Geology Project was to create and distribute animations of the geologic history of Colorado to public school systems. Funding limitations prompted the team to instead work with individual national parks and museums to do specific animations.
"Our goal is to make geology accessible to a younger generation," Weimer said. Making the animations available to schools remains a long-term goal.
Funding thus far has come from private foundations, individuals and professional societies, but the group is seeking more support to expand its work.
For more information on the Interactive Geology Project, visit .
Editors: A demonstration CD-ROM is available by contacting Ryan Crow at (303) 492-6188, or contact Mike Liguori in the News Services Office at (303) 492-3117.