educational guide the future is wild

Transcription

June 2008
EDUCATIONAL GUIDE
THE FUTURE IS WILD
Teachers’ file
CONTENTS
The attraction
Answers to question sheets
and additional information
Resource materials
p. 2
p. 4
p. 6
Forecasting the environments
and animal species
p. 6
The technology
behind augmented reality
p. 7
Introduction to
the animals of the future
p. 10
THE ATTRACTION
THE FUTURE IS WILD
From April 2008, Futuroscope will be showing “The Future is
Wild” in its own specially built new theatre, an experience
unlike any other in the world that combines the advanced
technology of “augmented reality” with a scenario exploring
how species could evolve far in the future. This new
attraction takes visitors on an original safari trek far into
the future to meet extraordinary 3D creatures that they
interact with as they play an active role in a world where
reality and virtual reality merge. With The Future is Wild,
Futuroscope has created a new form of entertainment,
bringing an immersive and interactive experience that
takes image technology into the future.
The attraction itself is six minutes of interactive experience
whose fun format will awaken children’s curiosity and
leave them wanting to know more. It is followed by an
exhibition room offering explanations to the questions
that young visitors will have been asking themselves
about the animals of the future they have seen during the
show, and giving them the chance to understand the
difference between scientific forecast and science fiction.
The Documentary Resources section includes a presentation of augmented reality and the scientific model on
which The Future is Wild is based.
An incredible time machine
Visitors are welcomed by a guide who talks to them
on-screen, explaining what the journey and the animals
from the future will be like. Visitors then board the expedition vehicles in groups of twelve before setting off
through time on a route that places virtual animals
against real backdrops.
Our budding explorers’ wear sensor bracelets and
augmented-reality binoculars that let them see the rocky
landscapes, deep seascapes, impenetrable forests and
their inhabitants from millions of years in the future. As the
safari progresses, visitors can reach out and interact with
the animals to feed and play with them as they listen to
their guide, who also teaches them about the story behind
their journey through time and the animals they see.
An attraction rich in documentary content
The exhibition room that follows the attraction
was designed under the scientific guidance
of Christiane Denys from the French national
museum of natural history. In it, visitors will
find explanations about the animals of the
future that are not fiction, but a study of the
evolution of species that is itself intimately linked to the
fits and jerks of tectonic plate movements and climate
change. This exhibition zone forms a route that visitors
take in order to leave the attraction, and can be completed
in one of two ways to suit the age of the pupils:
• a quick overview for younger students, mainly by
looking at the items shown;
Educational guide The Future is Wild
• a deeper insight for older students, using additional
video information.
The itinerary is arranged so as to develop logical reasoning;
it sheds light on how species evolve and on the ties that
link the past to the future.
A room is located at the entrance where the students can
be assembled as the expedition vehicles arrive. Here,
they can see that our planet is constantly evolving,
its surface alive with movement, how climates are
changing, and some species have disappeared while
others are coming into being.
2
Parc du Futuroscope - CRDP Poitou-Charentes
The Earth
is formed
Tomorrow?
Pangaea I
The Earth today
As visitors pass through a connecting corridor, they see
that other species manage to live through different
geological time periods: these species are known as
living fossils.
Beyond the misted screen that represents the door to this
future world, visitors explore a series of three territories
that each represents a different era: + 5 million years,
+ 100 million years and + 200 million years.
A map of the world in each zone illustrates the position
of the continents across the Earth’s surface in each
period and the corresponding geo-climate… A number
of animals are also shown to scale for each period (see
below). These are animals from the future and paleontological animals from France’s natural history museum.
Modern-day animals are not displayed, but can be seen
on video screens. Each animal from the past or present is
used to explain the genesis of an animal from the future.
+ 5 million years
• An animatronic* of the carakiller, which lives in the
prairie region (two other animals from this region also
seen in the attraction are shown evolving on the video
screen);
• A smilodon* skeleton from the glacier region, not part
of the expedition (video and evolution of three other
animals from this environment: the snowstalker, the
gannetwhale and the shagrat).
+ 100 million years
• An animatronic* of the toraton, which lives in the swamp
region (video and evolution of another animal from this
region: the lurkfish);
• A skeleton of a coelurosaur* (dinosaur ancestor of
birds), to explain how the great blue windrunner of the
barren Great Plateau region evolves (video and
evolution of another animal from this region: the poggle).
+ 200 million years
• An ocean flish that dives into the sea;
• A footprint from an ichthyosaur* to explain how the
ocean flish evolves (video and evolution of two other
animals from this region: the sharkopath and the rainbow
squid).
*Words marked with an asterisk are explained in the glossary.
3
ANSWERS TO QUESTION SHEETS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Sheet 1
CHANGING ECOSYSTEMS AND THE GENESIS OF SPECIES
This sheet is designed to be filled in by primary school
and pre-sixth form secondary school pupils as they visit
the final part of the exhibition room where animals from
200 million years in the future are displayed. It is intended
to demonstrate the methods used to create the various
models for the animals of the future, based on the
morphology of the landscapes and climates forecast by
geologists and climatologists. After studying how the
desert hopper was imagined to develop, pupils are helped
to identify the steps used to imagine the evolution of the
ocean flish. The thoughts and analyses on the notion of
the scientific model can be more or less advanced,
depending on the ages of the students.
• As the ground is very hot (and a better heat conductor
than the air), jumping restricts the amount of time the
animal is in contact with the ground, which in turn
restricts the amount of water it loses.
h. There are two reasons why the desert hopper no
longer produces slime:
• It stands and has a new way of moving (slime is only
needed when slithering on the ground because it
helps the animal to slide along);
• The living conditions mean it has to save water (but
water is needed to produce slime).
i. There are two reasons why the desert hopper has a
long shell:
• Its new way of moving (jumping requires balance,
and its long shell acts as a balancing pole, a bit like a
tail does for a cat);
• A long shell gives it somewhere to store the water it
finds in its food.
j. The large size of the desert hopper can be explained by
the lack of predators.
Question 1
a. These two species are separated by 200 million years.
b. The desert hopper lives in the Rainshadow Desert in
the south east of Pangaea II.
c. Living conditions in this environment are as follows:
• Air temperature: high during the day, cold at night,
• Ground temperature: high during the day, cold at night,
• There are no water sources,
• There is no damp shelter,
• The only available food is scrub and brush (with
tough leaves that can limit the amount of water lost
through evaporation),
• Low amounts of available food (the scrub and brush
is few and far between in the desert).
d. The desert hopper lives in much more arid conditions
than our garden snails.
e. As the only food available is hard-leaved undergrowth,
its rows of teeth, called a radula, must be a lot more
powerful so that it can grind up the leaves.
f. Given the lack of water and the living conditions, which
quickly use up any water, the animal had to have skin
that limits the amount of water lost through evaporation. Thicker skin and (waterproof) scales stop water
leaving the body when it is exposed to the sun.
g. There are three reasons why the desert hopper stands
up (two can easily be understood by the youngest
pupils):
• Food is rare, so it is easier to see food stood up rather
than on the ground;
• To be able to find enough food, it must cover long
distances during the day; it can move faster jumping
rather than crawling, and this uses less energy over
a given distance;
Question 2
a. The global ocean is vast; its waters are warm and
often rocked by violent storms.
b. This ocean is teeming with food. There are many
shoals of silverswimmers.
c. The global ocean is unfortunately home to many predators such as the sharkopath and rainbow squid.
d. There are no predators in the skies because birds have
disappeared from the face of the Earth.
e. To avoid being exposed to the many predators that live in
the water, this animal spends most of its time in the air.
f. Since there are no more birds and only a few insects in
the sky (except near the coasts), food can only be
found in the water.
g. The following changes have to be made compared to
the flying fish:
• Tail: like the flying fish, the animal has to be able to
jump out of the water to take off: it will still need a
very powerful tail;
• Fins: to be able to stay in the air for most of the time,
its fins will have to be even more developed in order
to flap like wings so that it can actually fly rather than
just glide along for a few yards at a time;
• Jaws: as this animal is a predator that swoops on its
prey, its jaws need to have developed like a bird’s beak
so that it can catch its prey quickly and accurately;
4
• Breathing: this animal spends most of its time in the air,
so its breathing system needs to be adapted to the air.
Sheet 2
h. The animal that matches this description 200 million
years from now is the ocean flish.
THE TECHNOLOGY BEHIND AUGMENTED REALITY
Exercise 2
OVERLAYING: The computer adds the virtual 3D animals
to the film in real time.
FINAL TRANSMISSION: The filmed sequence and the
added creatures are immediately transmitted back on to
the binocular viewing screens, giving visitors the vivid
impression that they are watching real-life action.
BACKGROUND SHOT: The binoculars’ built-in camera
films the scenery in front of the visitors and sends the shot
to the computer.
BOARDING: The explorers board the expedition vehicle
kitted out with their augmented-reality binoculars and
sensor bracelets that let them handle virtual 3D objects
within a real environment.
This sheet is designed to be filled in by pre-sixth form
secondary school pupils after the attraction. It is intended
to teach about the augmented-reality technology on
which the attraction is based, and the value it could
have in the near future. After studying the concept
behind this technology and how it is applied, pupils are
helped to identify the various fields in which it is used.
Exercise 1
1. Binoculars linked to a camera
2. A bracelet
3. A computer running D’Fusion software
The bracelet.
The position-sensing system.
Exercice 3
The explorers board
the expedition vehicle,
kitted out with their
augmented-reality
binoculars and sensor
bracelets that let them
handle virtual 3D
objects within a
real environment.
Jean-Michel Dupuis, CRDP Poitou-Charentes
The computer adds the virtual 3D
animals to the film in real time.
The binoculars’ built-in
camera films the scenery
in front of the visitors and
sends the shot to the
computer.
The filmed sequence and the added
creatures are immediately transmitted
back on to the binocular viewing
screens, giving visitors the vivid
impression that they are watching
real-life action.
5
RESOURCE MATERIALS
The English company The Future is Wild Ltd has produced
a television series showing a scientific model of how our
planet might have evolved 5 million, 100 million and 200
million years in the future. It depicts one of the conceivable
evolutions that may affect the continents, ecosystems
and the animals that were able to adapt.
The programmes have been shown in a great many
countries and are available on three DVDs.
FORECASTING THE ENVIRONMENTS AND ANIMAL SPECIES
By observing the past and present, an international team
of scientists from different fields (biology, geology,
climatology, etc) tried to reveal the secrets of the future
(cf. web resources: visit thefutureiswild.com. to find all
the scientific references).
The starting point from which the model was conceived
is the Earth’s geography, the evolution and displacement
of the continents. By examining how the continents have
moved in the past and how they are moving now, they
were able to calculate and predict how they may evolve
in the future.
This evolving geography leads to climate changes
across the planet, which in turn upset the ecosystems.
Scientists reckon that living conditions will be more
extreme in the future, with deserts that are hotter or cold
and dry, higher mountains and denser forests. Despite
this, these extreme habitats share some features with
habitats found on Earth today, so it is possible to define
certain features of the animals that seem better able to
resist these constraints.
Only a few species have been able to adapt (in different
regions) and survive these upheavals. Studying the past
and present helps predict what could happen on Earth in
the future. Animals have changed gradually over millions
of years to adapt to their environments.
This slow process is called evolution; it causes species
to emphasise qualities and/or behaviour that are best
suited to the conditions. In order to understand the
secrets of evolution, scientists study clues from the past:
when animals and plants die, they sometimes leave
behind a trace or remains in stone – a fossil – which can
be studied to see where, when and how these organisms
from the past used to live.
To keep the model straightforward, researchers developed
a scenario in which they deliberately removed mankind
from the planet to prevent any human influence on the
evolution of species using the genetic engineering
technology that it now possesses.
All the evolutions shown here are plausible, but will they
really come to be? No one can say.
The mystery of how species adapt together with chance
mutations could turn this scenario on its head and show
the limits of the most advanced scientific models.
Where do the animals of the future come from
1
2
3
4
6
1 Basing their observations on the
modern-day seriema bird and its
ancestor the gastronis, scientists
were able to predict how this animal could evolve in the future,
2 establish a detailed anthropomorphic study,
3 create a 3D model and determine
how it moved around.
4 From this, they were then able to create a 3D computer-generated image
which, when animated against a real
backdrop using augmented-reality
technology, gives us the carakiller.
THE TECHNOLOGY BEHIND AUGMENTED REALITY
the 3D computer-generated images over the digitised
video in real time. This collaborative undertaking immerses visitors into the future scenario and enables them to
interact with the environment.
Futuroscope worked with The Future is Wild Ltd on the
scientific model behind the attraction, and with French
company Total Immersion* on the technological aspects
of augmented reality. Total Immersion is the company
that developed the processing software that smoothly lays
* Total Immersion’s demonstrations of its work earned it a nomination at the DEMO 2004 awards, and the DEMOgodTM2007 prize.
The annual DEMO conference brings together IT executives and bosses, investors and start-ups who come to demonstrate their most innovative projects.
Definitions made easy
Reality is what you perceive with your five senses: hearing, taste, touch, smell, sight.
Visual reality, therefore, is what you see.
Virtual reality is the result you see when the real world is
filmed by a camera and synthesised by a computer and
software to create an imaginary environment.
Augmented reality is the result you see when the real
world is filmed and combined with virtual 3D objects.
These virtual objects are generated by software and
placed on to real-life images on OLED screens built into
special viewing headsets. Wearers are able to interact in
real time thanks to position sensors and motion trackers.
7
How does the augmented reality at Futuroscope work?
Visitors take their seats on board a small train.
Each train is made up of three 4-seater carriages.
There are six trains, which travel across four scenes
along the route:
1. A cold, dry and wind-ravaged savannah,
2. A swamp basin,
3. A Global Ocean,
4. A tropical rainforest.
Bracelet
The bracelet has sensors that send information to the
computer containing the augmented reality system.
Visitors have binoculars, a bit like in a real safari, and use
them to watch the 3D computer-generated animals move
around against the real backdrop. The combination of virtual images (the animals) and real images (the backdrop)
gives a vivid impression of reality.
Each viewer can interact with the animals thanks to their
motion-sensor bracelets. A simple flick of the wrist, e.g.
to throw bits of virtual bread, determines how each person sees the animal move.
Computer and D’Fusion software
Under each seat is a computer that contains the D’Fusion
software (see illustration below). The software transmits
the 3D images of the animals of the future in real time and
moves them according to the visitor’s position in front of
the scenery. The visitor's position is worked out by a
position-tracking system built into the chair.
Augmented reality equipment
Viewing binoculars
The binoculars play a dual role: they film the scenery with
a hidden, built-in digital camera, and they play back the
show. Each pair of binoculars is linked up to a computer
under each visitor’s seat running the D’Fusion software.
This software creates the computer-generated images
and lays them over the real images of the scenery
before sending the result back to the binoculars, which
contain two small OLED* screens – one for each eye. The
two images are slightly out of sync with each other,
creating the illusion of depth.
Seat
*OLED: Organic Light-Emitting Diode. An organic film (carbon compound) between two layers of electrode film. When a current is applied, the organic compound lights up.
The technology has many benefits: the screens are brighter with better contrast, and are thinner and lighter than LCD screens while requiring far less power and being potentially less expensive to manufacture.
8
How does The Future is Wild work?
Disembark
Boarding
4 real sets for 12 amazing encounters around a circular stage
Fields in which augmented reality is used
some video games that are yet to come to market,
players can now test themselves against an artificial
intelligence while physically adding or moving their own
noughts-and-crosses or chess pieces. In the field of
medicine, imaging data can be superimposed to let doctors see in one place their actions and what immediate
effects these will have on and in a patient’s body.
These are just a few examples, but one thing seems
certain according to Didier Fass, a researcher at the
LORIA INRIA laboratory: "In the next twenty years,
augmented reality combined with artificial intelligence
and nanotechnologies will be rolled out into every corner
of our environment through ambient intelligence and
interactive materials. The digital world, which is so cold
and abstract now, will soon be tangible and operable. It
will take form in and through daily objects, in our homes,
our cars, workspaces and leisure contexts. The
experience of it will bring thrills and meaning. […] I don’t
really know what the world will be like in twenty years
when our children are adults. Today’s technology is cold;
the challenge over the coming years is to instil in it a
human warmth, the warmth that gives meaning to life.
Without this, it can never be an extension of the living
domain”.
Real images and digital images were first combined for
Steven Lisberger’s 1982 film Tron. However, we had to
wait another eleven years for Steven Spielberg’s
Jurassic Park before the quality of digital overlays really
made an impression on our minds as the famous virtual
dinosaurs blended into the real backdrops. Other major
successes have since followed, such as George Lucas’
Star Wars episodes 1, 2 and 3 and Peter Jackson’s Lord
of the Rings. The objects that are added to the film are
more often than not machines or creatures that do not
really exist. Some film directors are contemplating using
virtual actors, which, for the moment, still presents
difficulties with the unrealistic look of hair, skin, facial
expressions and clothes in close-ups.
Augmented reality has also gradually established its
presence in other fields in addition to cinema and
amusement parks. In the world of television, it is used
to bring up virtual screens in front of journalists during
election results broadcasts and weather forecasts.
In military applications, it is used to simulate combat
operations in different settings for training purposes.
In the automotive industry, it speeds up the design
modification processes, which are vital in order to give
vehicles the right functional features for on-road use. In
9
INTRODUCTION TO THE ANIMALS OF THE FUTURE*
NB: some of these animals only appear in the documentation room after the expedition.
Silverswimmer
Period: + 200 million years.
Arthropod crustacean that has evolved from the crab or lobster.
Habitat: the global ocean.
Diet: plankton filter feeder.
Babookari
Mammal that has evolved from the uakari monkey of South America.
Habitat: dry grasslands.
Diet: omnivorous (fish, insects, plants).
Rainbow Squid
Cephalopod mollusc that has evolved from the giant squid.
Diet: carnivorous.
Megasquid
Cephalopod mollusc that has evolved from the squid; distant relative of its
contemporary the squibbon.
Habitat: hot rainforest of Pangaea II.
Diet: omnivorous.
Carakiller
Bird that has evolved from the caracara, a South American falcon.
Diet: carnivorous (small animals and insects).
* Note to readers: production restraints have made it necessary to group together certain animals in settings that are not the ecosystems described by scientists.
Nevertheless, all the information contained in this guide regarding the relationship of the animals to their habitats is entirely accurate in every respect.
10
Poggle
Mammal that has evolved from the pika, a small mammal related to the rabbit.
Habitat: Great plateau (caves).
Diet: herbivorous (seeds).
Rattleback
Mammal that has evolved from the alpaca and the agouti, rodents from South
America.
Diet: herbivorous.
Gannetwhale
Giant bird that has evolved from birds such as the penguin.
Habitat: North-European ice sheet.
Diet: carnivorous (fish).
Great blue windrunner
Four-winged bird that has evolved from birds such as the Himalayan Crane.
Habitat: Great plateau.
Diet: carnivorous (insects).
Spitfire bird
Bird that has evolved from Antarctic seabirds.
Habitat: Antarctic rainforest.
Diet: herbivorous (flowers).
Ocean Flish
Fish that has evolved from the flying fish.
Diet: carnivorous (Silverswimmers).
Squibbon
Cephalopod mollusc that has evolved from the squid; distant relative of its
contemporary the megasquid.
Habitat: hot rainforest of Pangaea II (arboreal).
Diet: omnivorous.
11
Lurkfish
Fish that has evolved from the electric catfish.
Habitat: warm swamps.
Diet: carnivorous.
Shagrat
Mammal that has evolved from the marmot.
Habitat: North-European ice sheet (tundra).
Diet: herbivorous.
Sharkopath
Cartilaginous fish that has evolved from the shark.
Diet: carnivorous.
Snowstalker
Mammal that has evolved from the mustelid family.
Habitat: North-European ice sheet (tundra).
Diet: carnivorous.
Spitfire beetle
Arthropod insect that has evolved from the beetle.
Habitat: dense rainforest.
Diet: carnivorous (birds).
Desert Hopper
Gastropod mollusc that has evolved from the snail.
Habitat: Rainshadow desert.
Diet: herbivorous.
Toraton
Reptile that has evolved from the turtle.
Habitat: warm swamps.
Diet: herbivorous.
12
GLOSSARY
Animatronic: robot similar to an android but which works
using pre-recorded sounds and movements rather than
analysing and reacting to external stimuli.
first appeared 250 million years ago, shortly before the
dinosaurs (which first appeared 230 million years ago),
and died out 90 million years ago (25 million years before
the dinosaurs became extinct).
Coelurosaur: small dinosaur that lived approximately 150
million years ago and which predates the ancestors of
modern birds, such as the archaeopteryx.
Ichthyosaur: giant marine reptiles that resembled dolphins;
Further sources of information in print and on the internet
Books
Internet
Pye, Claire – The Wild World of the Future… the evolution
of a new animal kingdom – Firefly Books (Mar 2003).
Gould, Stephen Jay (under the direction of) - The Book of
Life.
http://www.thefutureiswild.com (information about the
members of the international research team and their
role in devising this scientific model).
http://www.scotese.com
(“Paleomap Project” by Christopher Scotese).
http://www.mnhn.fr/museum/foffice/transverse/transverse
/accueil.xsp (information on the evolution of species
from the past and present).
http://www.t-immersion.com (video demonstrations of
augmented reality).
http://www.lesanimauxdufutur.com (the Futuroscope blog
with information on the different stages involved in
building the attraction).
Videos
Walking with Dinosaurs – BBC Television series produced
by Jasper James. BBC. 2000.
Walking with Prehistoric Beasts – Programmes by Tim
Haines. Production BBC 2002.
The Future is Wild - 3 DVDs distributed by Image
Entertainment.
Parc du Futuroscope
B.P. 2000
Parc du Futuroscope
86130 Jaunay-Clan
B.P. 2000
Tél. : 020 7499 8049 or +33 (0)5 49 49 59 06
86130 Jaunay-Clan
Fax: +33 (0)5 49 49 30 25
Tél. : 05 49 49 30 20
•c o
f u t Educational
u r o s guide
c o pTheeFuture
m
is Wild
13
© Photos : Jean-Michel Dupuis, CRDP Poitou-Charentes. Parution janvier 2008. Publication gratuite. Mise en page : Virginie Carrecabe.
SEML Nouvelle du Parc du Futuroscope, B.P. 2000, 86130 Jaunay-Clan, RCS Poitiers B 444 030 902. Imprimerie Bedi-Sipap, Poitiers.
Smilodon: large cat from North and South America that lived
between 2.5 million and 10 thousand years ago. Resembled
the lion but with extremely long canines in its upper jaw.
More commonly known as the sabre-toothed tiger.

educational guide the future is wild

Transcription

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