For Immediate Release June 29, 2005

For More Information Contact: Tracy McVey, 317-509-8682 Rich Schneider, 317-278-4564 rcschnei@iupui.edu

High-Tech Interactive Watershed Exhibit Helps Users Learn about Watersheds

The "PercepTable" at the Indiana State Museum's watershed exhibit.

INDIANAPOLIS - A new exhibit at the Indiana State Museum lets you select a storm that dumps more than half a-foot of rain across the state, flooding river banks and sending millions of gallons of water gushing through the state's watersheds.

The storm event plays out in minutes on a PercepTable, a top-down display device that uses a projector to throw an image onto a horizontal table, showing how watersheds link one part of Indiana to another.

Developed by the Center for Earth and Environmental Science (CEES) at IUPUI and the Pervasive Technology Labs at Indiana University, the display is called "Watching Your Watershed." It is located on the third floor of the museum in Tomorrow's Indiana, an area of the museum that demonstrates how choices made today will influence the future.

Watersheds are particularly appropriate when it comes to examining how choices affect the future, said Lenore Tedesco, director of CEES. "As watersheds become more urbanized, more water and more pollutants flow into streams and rivers."

On the PercepTable, that idea is graphically shown, with visitors able to select a map of the state showing counties or watersheds. The motion of a wooden tool, bearing reflecting infrared tape, is caught by an overhead camera and passed along to a computer. The computer then triggers action on the PerceptTable, such as a display of data or a storm event.

One of five storm events in Indiana can be triggered, including the flood of July 4, 2003, when seven inches of rain fell on the state in 24 hours. When a storm event is triggered, clouds swoop across the state and rain begins to fall. Computer generated tables show the volume of water in rivers rising as they pass through various cities, particularly as the water flows south. At certain points, the flow of water edges into a yellow warning zone and then into a red flood zone before gradually subsiding to a normal level.

The display shows how scientists monitor water quality and stream flow in Central Indiana watersheds. "The interactive technology enables visitors to explore geospatial information about Indiana and see how water connects their neighborhoods to a larger community" said Polly Baker, director of a Pervasive Technology Lab.

According to Tedesco, the display is intended to spark interest in discovering how Hoosiers can live as members of an interconnected water system defined by local watershed and learn ways to be environmental stewards. ###