Global Observation

See, hear, feel and smell the world.

Can you find Greenland on the map?

One in five British children cannot find the UK on a map of the world, a magazine’s research suggests. National Geographic Kids said it also found fewer than two thirds of children were able to correctly locate the US. “How are children going to be able to get as much out of their life if they fail to have an understanding of the shape of the world?” laments Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University. The findings are “rather frightening”.

The world is a tapestry of rich, exciting and frightening experiences

Geography is infamous for being the most boring class in school. Understanding that the world is a larger, richer, more varied and yes, even frightening place than was ever imagined is the first step to opening the minds of young people.

But it is not just school children who need an education. Research for this project showed that many people have a poor grasp of the Earth's geography. For example when asked to point out countries on a unlabelled map, several of our test adults:

named Australia as New Zealand and vice versa;
couldn't correctly locate Japan;
couldn't identify Madagascar;
couldn't point out India (this was someone with Indian heritage);
placed the Caribbean in North West Africa;
couldn't identify Greenland; and
couldn't point out Jamaica on the map even though they had holidayed three times.

Making it relevant

“Making geography fun and exciting is so important because it makes children aware of the importance of caring for the environment and, by learning about the world, it helps bring other people’’s worlds and cultures closer to their own.” David Bellamy

Apparently George W Bush had no idea where Afghanistan was before he ordered the invasion. With such appalling global ignorance how can people from differing heritages begin to relate to each other. Knowing where your neighbour 'comes from' is the beginning but realising that there are other countries in this world, with people whose lives are as important to them as ours' are to us, is vital.

Global Observation (GO) is, primarily, a way to get secondary school students engaging with geography and in so doing discover the beauty and, complexity and the environmental and cultural diversity of the world. By using experiential technologies GO allows users to take a trip around the world without ever leaving the room.

Exploring the world

Thanks to computer games and simulations children are used to exploring alien dimensions and terrains. What if they could visit parts of their very own planet that they never knew existed? What if they could not only see and hear it but they could smell and feel it too?


Navigate via trackball	enter by pressing button	see, smell and feel temperature

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GO is an interactive installation that explores the GO is a tactile, fully emmersive exploration of the world set in a virtual reality room. Users navigate a gigantic 3D simulation of the Earth through the use of a large track ball set in the middle of an ornate wooden table. When the user moves the ball the world moves in sync with it and the countries that come into view are identified by name tags. The user can, therefore, begin to understand the geographic positioning and relationships of the countries of the world.

Connecting with the world

Over the last twenty years international travel has become easier and cheaper. Holidaying abroad is no longer seen as a luxury. But there are many people who cannot travel for numerous reasons: Complications of health, financial difficulties, political problems, among many more. Although GO is envisioned as an installation for museums, galleries or large public places. While it is seen as being educational, it is not just for school children. Because of its high emmersive qualities it could be used by those who, for some reason or other, cannot travel to a specific country.

Putting it together

GO is a collaboration of disparate skills, technologies and media. It uses six projectors for the 3D experience, ambient temperature controls and programmed scent dispensers. The whole experience is controlled by a track ball and three simple buttons which allows you to track the world, enter a country and experience the environment respectively. In addition there is an option to discover facts and figures of the places you are experiencing.


Discussing the problem	Initial sketch	Creating a trackball...	and trackball housing

Creating the world	Controlling the Earth	Setting up the 3D environment	The virtual world

Exploration, discovery and solutions

GO was a collaborative project with Jenny Do and Shazed hussain on the BA honours degree at Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication. Following is the research and findings. Click a slide to expand it. To move forward or backward use either the arrow keys, F (forward), P (previous) or click in the appropriate place on the expanded page.