New Web-Based Program Offers Virtual Field Trips

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

LiveDiver Provides a Unique Opportunity for VARs To Help Schools “Reach-in”

An innovative new LiveDiver device from Reach-In is now installed at the Aquarium of Boise, according to eSchool News. According to the Idaho Statesman, LiveDiver takes armchair adventuring and learning to a whole new level.

As the LiveDiver website explains, the technology “turns your computer into a command center, controlling a remote operated vehicle (ROV) inside the shark exhibit at the Aquarium of Boise. Piloting the ROV in real time from your electronic device takes you beyond the glass, and lets you observe and explore marine life from a diver’s perspective.”

The technology also allows users to log into the aquarium’s website and control a small mini-submarine in the shark and fish tank to get a diver’s perspective of the marine life, creating a virtual field trip to the aquarium. The sub has the capability to dive, surface, and maneuver through the exhibit.

When the sub is not being used by the general public, the tank at the Aquarium of Boise may be engaged for private “one-on-one sessions with the biologist” by schools and classrooms nationwide.

Reach-in’s owner, Scott Harris, tells the Idaho Statesman that their Web-controlled submarine is the first of its kind. “Many zoos and aquariums have submarines that are controlled locally, but controlling devices over the Web is an entirely different ballgame,” says Harris.

VARs can provide their education IT clients with infrastructure and solutions to access programs such as LiveDiver.