US educational software giant Knowledge Adventure is proving 3D technology’s worth as an aid to learning with its theme park website for children and the development of virtual classrooms

Children learn in an interactive fantasy land

‘The feedback that we were getting from the children using our games showed that the demand now is for 3D, which is why we have focussed on it,’ says David Lord, CEO of the California-based company, which is the largest supplier of educational CDs in the US.

‘Worlds that are 3D are more fun, and that is a key to learning. We had a series of products that used 3D, but they were not really online. That became a key goal for us.’

Knowledge Adventure’s exploration of 3D as a key component of education and training is also echoed by leading futurologist Daniel Burrus , who sees e-learning as one of the main areas for the adoption of 3D in the future.

Lord picks up on that point: ‘The great advantage of 3D is that you explore in a very natural way. We have developed a theme park-based website, with a one-off entrance fee, that children can walk around in 3D, and into that we put our educational games.

‘You could call those games the main attractions. We surround them with other things that the children can do, which, I suppose, you could call sideshows.’

The aim is to draw children to those main attractions, as they represent ‘deep silos’ of content that the children will be immersed in for from three to six months.

According to Lord, it is a world that would not be possible without 3D.

‘3D gives us a robust platform to work with,’ he says. ‘If we tried to do this in 2D, then we would have to work with what are, essentially, a series of pictures. In 3D, you just program an avatar to move through worlds that you have already built.’

For Knowledge Adventure, though, the real success will arrive in the next few weeks, when the company will be able to open up its platform for its users to develop their own content, and start to build the classrooms from which shared learning will develop.

It’s a milestone that could prove crucial to the development of online learning, as 3D virtual classrooms can then be used as a major educational tool – not just for people in developed cities but right across the world.

‘You could see virtual classrooms being used to support remote communities anywhere, from a Scottish island to a village in Africa,’ says Lord, who also maintains that this educational use of 3D and the demand for 3D systems signals an important change for the internet.

‘The fact that children are demanding 3D, and like using it, means that it will accelerate the demand for the development of 3D right across the web,’ he says. ‘It’s the reason that Microsoft is putting a ton of money into this.

‘Once the opportunity existed, then it became a good business opportunity – and Microsoft is only interested in very big business opportunities.’