HAZARD – Imagine a trip through space. You begin at the sun and pass Mercury, the earth, Mars, Saturn and beyond. Now imagine hitting a few buttons and learning how to dismantle a diesel engine, part-by-part from the inside out. Or maybe you just want to stroll through a town in Portugal. Now imagine doing all of that from the confines of the Challenger Learning Center of Kentucky, right here in Hazard. Students from around the region now have the opportunity to do just that.

“There are a lot of applications for students,” said Tom Cravens, Challenger Center director.

Cravens was talking about HCTC’s newest learning tool, a virtual reality 3-D simulator, or iCube for short, and it’s only the second such machine in Kentucky.

With a special set of 3-D glasses and a specially rigged XBox controller, students can undergo a myriad of scenarios that can help facilitate the learning process. And for administrators at the college, the iCube could represent the future of learning, giving students a virtual hands-on type of education without ever having to step outside.

The iCube works through the use of infrared cameras mounted atop a three sided “box” which pick up the movements of the XBox controller. Software, which can include programs for a myriad of different scenarios, are loaded and backlit on three giant screens. Special 3-D glasses help the brain render the projected images in three dimensions. In this manner, the operator can take a three-dimensional tour through the solar system or work on an engine in virtual reality.

Cravens noted that the iCube can become an important learning tool for the college’s students, and it is only limited in scope by the software available. At present, he said, the machine is running on demonstration programming, but there are other animations available that will help provide further learning opportunities and can help train future coal miners, health care workers and more.

The iCube also represents what Cravens said is a chance for students to get excited about learning. The Challenger Center already allows students from around the region to experience a simulated space flight, and now this new equipment represents the next leap.

“Our center is here to get kids excited about math, science and technology,” said Cravens. “This is something to get them really excited.”

The excitement was palpable, he continued, early this month as former NASA astronaut Dr. Scott Parazynski attended an open house featuring the iCube. Cravens noted that children and adults were at the center throughout the day, testing the new technology for themselves. Cravens said he hopes to also host local teachers at the center as well.

“We are attempting to bring all the teachers back this summer and fall for a one-day professional development workshop to showcase this equipment,” he said.

And the younger students who visit the Challenger Center are the main reason it continues to operate. Cravens said the center should see its 100,000th student this year, but in light of recent budget concerns, there have been some schools unable to visit. He hopes this new equipment will provide an incentive for those schools to revisit the center and see what it has to offer.

“Schools that visit the center will get a chance to use this technology,” he said.

Anyone wishing to view the iCube for themselves will have an opportunity in the coming weeks. The Challenger Center will be hosting an open house on Thursday, May 6. Two tours will be conducted, the first at 10 a.m. and the second at 2 p.m. This will be the second such open house at the Challenger Center, and one during which the public will get a chance to experience the iCube first hand.

“Tremendous interest has been shown by anyone who has experienced this technology during our setup and testing,” noted Dr. Allen Goben, HCTC President and CEO. “On May 6, we will devote even more time to showing what this new technology has to offer.”