Virtual Tourism Is Here

Illawarra Mercury

Saturday April 10, 2004

LISA SEWELL reports

The Science Centre and Planetarium has long led visitors on voyages of discovery - soon it will allow them to travel into the realm of virtual reality.

IMAGINE being able to wander through the Illawarra's many attractions without taking a single step.

In a few months' time, visitors and residents will be able to do just that with the installation of a virtual reality theatre at Fairy Meadow's Science Centre and Planetarium.

Centre director Glen Moore said the visualisation theatre was one of a number of initiatives designed to take the educational facility into its next phase of development - and firmly into the new century.

Mr Moore - the driving force behind the centre's establishment in 1989 - said it would become an integral part of the emerging Wollongong Innovation Campus.

The 35ha campus - to be built over the next 10 to 15 years - will host some of the most innovative companies in the world in fields such as information technology, smart materials (nanotechnology), multimedia, biotechnology and film and television.

A major expansion of the science centre has been incorporated into the $300 million project being undertaken by the University of Wollongong in conjunction with construction giant Baulderstone Hornibrook.

``The centre is now going through a phase that's quite different, and is very much influenced by the upcoming presence of the Wollongong Innovation Campus," Mr Moore said.

``We envisage that the centre will become the gateway to the innovation campus and so as well as showing the fundamentals of science and technology, we really need to show the real cutting-edge technologies.

``To show science and technology more as it's used in industry and research, so taking that natural next step where people can say `I understand it, but what do we use it for'."

Mr Moore said the visualisation theatre was a prime example of how cutting-edge technologies could be utilised in the real world.

``We already have the equipment for a visualisation theatre which creates an artificial reality that allows people to do any number of things," he said.

``A facility such as this for instance, allows architects and engineers to design and construct buildings and even whole cities in virtual space. They can interact and feel them without actually building them.

``Similarly geologists could view underwater features to look at where drills are going when looking for oil. Or those in the medical field could have a virtual body there for exploring without having to dissect a real body.

``Such applications require a very powerful computing capability, essentially we are talking about super computers."

One of the theatre's first offerings would be a virtual reality tour of the Illawarra and its main attractions.

``In this way, the science centre could provide the first point of call for tourists," he said. ``It would also be valuable for people who might want to know what sort of place Wollongong is - for instance those who want to locate an industry in the region or come and study or live here."

Mr Moore said he expected the theatre to be up and running within three months thanks to the donation of vital equipment by Australia's leading oil and gas company Woodside Petroleum. The initial theatre would be expanded as part of the next exciting stage in the centre's development.

First established in the old migrant hostel situated at the university's campus east, the centre was moved to a purpose-built facility close by in 2000 as stage one of its development.

As part of the $700,000 stage two upgrade, a 300sqm building will be constructed to house the workshops which remain in Nissen huts from the old hostel. The development application for this stage is due to be lodged with Wollongong City Council shortly, with Mr Moore confident of the project's completion by the end of the year.

``We have the same amount of exhibition space as we did at the old centre although the quality of the space is much improved," Mr Moore said.

``However there is no space for putting on large travelling exhibitions or building substantial permanent exhibits. Meanwhile the workshop space needs to move from the hostel building which is no longer suitable.

``Stage two will see the creation of the necessary workshop facilities while the stage three expansion will create more space for travelling and permanent exhibitions - instead of the one open area we have now there will be five separate exhibition areas with different themes."

The timeline for the expansion depends on funding, but delivering the goods is something Mr Moore - a former physics lecturer at the university - is an expert at.

From gaining support from the university, businesses and community groups to realise his dream of building a hands-on science centre to raising funds to install the only major public planetarium in the state - he has ensured the centre remains at the forefront of its game.

The centre has gone from success to success - it attracts up to 75,000 visitors annually - helping to change the image of Wollongong internally as well as externally.

And while it will take on a new focus as a vital component of the innovation campus, Mr Moore said it would remain true to its initial aim of introducing both children and adults to science and technology in an environment that is both educational and entertaining.

``The vision has stayed very consistent. In 1996 - before Wollongong was labelled the City of Innovation and before the Wollongong Innovation Campus was a reality - the centre's vision was `to be Australia's most innovative and exciting science and technology centre'," he said.

``We are halfway to achieving that aim."

TIMELINE

* 1989 - Opening of the interim Science Centre by then Science Minister Barry Jones. The centre was housed in the old migrant hostel on the University of Wollongong's campus east site.

* 1994 - The interim planetarium was built and officially opened in April by the Eureka Prize winner, Dr David Allen.

* 2000 - Wollongong MP Colin Markham opens the new custom-built $6 million Science Centre and Planetarium in May. The centre boasts two storeys of interactive educational displays along with the only fixed-seat planetarium in the state and a public observatory.

* 2003 - Wollongong City Council approves the master plan for the Wollongong Innovation Campus, a $300 million research and development facility that will incorporate the Science Centre, the former Brandon Park and campus east. As part of the project, the centre is to receive a major expansion.

* Mid-2004 The centre's visualisation theatre is expected to be complete by July. The interim virtual reality theatre will have limited seating capacity but will be expanded in stage three.

* End of 2004 - The second stage of the new centre is expected to be complete this year. The $700,000 upgrade will include the construction of an adjoining building for workshops and computer rooms.

* The near future Stage three of the centre's expansion will include more space for permanent and travelling exhibitions.