Abstract :
It is recognised that the teaching of complex psychomotor skills using online
delivery is difficult without the support of either face-to-face coaching and
tuition or a stereoscopic viewing system that provides users with a feel for the
spatial nature of the skills being taught. To date, the limitations of bandwidth,
and the high cost and sophistication of existing three-dimensional video production
and viewing technologies have limited the use of stereoscopic video
imaging to highly funded fields, such as sports and medical research or military
applications. The advent of desktop video editing software, along with
personal video players (such as the Apple iPod and iPhone) with small screens
utilising efficient video codecs, means that high-quality video podcasts can
now be effectively created and delivered via the Internet. Combining these new
video technologies with a conventional analogue stereo viewing and capture
system makes the production of stereoscopic video potentially much more
accessible to educators as a practical teaching tool. This paper seeks to alert
educational designers to an exploratory study into a potentially useful methodology
for the capture, production, dissemination and viewing of stereoscopic
video images using existing, low-cost technologies. Aside from the production
of a simple viewer, the process is straightforward and requires only basic and
readily available equipment. Applications in education as well as vocational
and sports training are self-evident.
