Spring Break
Decision Theater wows visitors
Derek Simons
Issue date: 10/27/08 Section: News
A road trip to Arizona State University (ASU) allowed a large group from UMKC to examine more in-depth Interim Chancellor Leo Morton's proposal at the beginning of the semester to build a "Decision Theater" (DT) on campus. (See "Morton's vision for UMKC," 8/25/08.)
On Oct. 17, close to 25 people spent the day watching demonstrations of how the high-tech DT could facilitate the decision-making process by visualizing three-dimensional models of problems to solve.
"I think it was very cool," Vice Chancellor for Academic Programs and Chief Information Officer Mary Lou Hines-Fritts said. "Not even so much for the technology part of it … but as a teaching tool and a community participation tool."
The DT uses multiple advanced projectors and massive computing power to model 360-degree images for people involved in considering different solutions to large-scale problems.
Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser was along for the trip and Hines-Fritts said he had three questions: how much was it going to cost to start up, how much did it cost to operate and was it worth it?
Hines-Fritts said ASU spent almost $6 million to build its version, half of which went to equipment, and the university now spends $2 million annually to run it.
She said the mayor brought up sewers and light rail as possible uses for the DT.
"How do you look at the cost of missed opportunities?" Hines-Fritts asked. "Often times it's a very difficult cost to determine, but we've very often seen the cost of bad decisions in our taxes."
Dean Ellen Suni, School of Law, said it has been very hard to define a focus for UMKC's Urban Mission, which is "sort of scattered around campus," and the DT could provide some opportunities to give a focal point to the mission efforts.
"One thing that is clear is that there needs to be financing," Suni said. "Part of it will come through grants or people using it, but I don't think that we can expect the entire cost will be covered that way."
Suni said she wasn't certain what the people who are interested in using the service would be willing to pay.
On Oct. 17, close to 25 people spent the day watching demonstrations of how the high-tech DT could facilitate the decision-making process by visualizing three-dimensional models of problems to solve.
"I think it was very cool," Vice Chancellor for Academic Programs and Chief Information Officer Mary Lou Hines-Fritts said. "Not even so much for the technology part of it … but as a teaching tool and a community participation tool."
The DT uses multiple advanced projectors and massive computing power to model 360-degree images for people involved in considering different solutions to large-scale problems.
Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser was along for the trip and Hines-Fritts said he had three questions: how much was it going to cost to start up, how much did it cost to operate and was it worth it?
Hines-Fritts said ASU spent almost $6 million to build its version, half of which went to equipment, and the university now spends $2 million annually to run it.
She said the mayor brought up sewers and light rail as possible uses for the DT.
"How do you look at the cost of missed opportunities?" Hines-Fritts asked. "Often times it's a very difficult cost to determine, but we've very often seen the cost of bad decisions in our taxes."
Dean Ellen Suni, School of Law, said it has been very hard to define a focus for UMKC's Urban Mission, which is "sort of scattered around campus," and the DT could provide some opportunities to give a focal point to the mission efforts.
"One thing that is clear is that there needs to be financing," Suni said. "Part of it will come through grants or people using it, but I don't think that we can expect the entire cost will be covered that way."
Suni said she wasn't certain what the people who are interested in using the service would be willing to pay.
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