Skip to main content
COMMUNITY:
Project Descriptions

Tracking The Human Brain

July 1, 1997 - June 30, 2002 | Media and Technology
Carnegie Mellon University is developing an interactive, multimedia planetarium presentation about the human brain. The interdisciplinary project team will build upon and refine the experience gained from its recently completed planetarium show, Journey Into the Living Cell. The context for this work is the need for increased public understanding of the human brain - an organ central to the very concept of humanity. The understanding of the human brain is located at the lively crossroads of research in many disciplines, including psychiatry, psychology, neuroscience, computer science and biology. The proposed medium to address this important issue is a 45-minute planetarium show. A broad audience ranging from pre-adolescent to adult will be targeted. Sophisticated and entertaining imaging technologies, including animation and virtual reality, will be used throughout the work. Narration and sound will be tightly integrated into the work. The hemispherical display surface of the planetarium will be fully utilized both visually and sonically. Recent advances in the brain sciences as well as long held understandings about the brain will be presented. Basic brain biology and principles of brain function including cooperativity in brain region activity and brain region specialization will be introduced.

Funders

NSF
Funding Program: ISE/AISL
Award Number: 9705491
Funding Amount: 1738246

TEAM MEMBERS

  • James McClelland
    Principal Investigator
    Carnegie-Mellon University
  • Paul Oles
    Co-Principal Investigator
    Carnegie-Mellon University
  • Bryan Rogers
    Co-Principal Investigator
    Carnegie-Mellon University
  • Discipline: Computing and information science | Health and medicine | Life science | Social science and psychology
    Audience: Middle School Children (11-13) | Youth/Teen (up to 17) | Adults | General Public | Museum/ISE Professionals
    Environment Type: Media and Technology | Planetarium and Science on a Sphere

    If you would like to edit a resource, please email us to submit your request.