A simple, low-cost stereographic video capture and viewing solution for teaching psychomotor skills using online delivery

It is recognised that the teaching of complex psychomotor skills using online delivery is difficult without the support of either face-to-face coaching and tuition or a stereoscopic viewing system that provides users with a feel for the spatial nature of the skills being taught. To date, the limitations of bandwidth, and the high cost and sophistication of existing three-dimensional video production and viewing technologies have limited the use of stereoscopic video imaging to highly funded fields, such as sports and medical research or military applications. The advent of desktop video editing software, along with personal video players (such as the Apple iPod and iPhone) with small screens utilising efficient video codecs, means that high-quality video podcasts can now be effectively created and delivered via the Internet. Combining these new video technologies with a conventional analogue stereo viewing and capture system makes the production of stereoscopic video potentially much more accessible to educators as a practical teaching tool. This paper seeks to alert educational designers to an exploratory study into a potentially useful methodology for the capture, production, dissemination and viewing of stereoscopic video images using existing, low-cost technologies. Aside from the production of a simple viewer, the process is straightforward and requires only basic and readily available equipment. Applications in education as well as vocational and sports training are self-evident.