Significant advances in fundamental understandings of the complex interactions of different components of the Earth system as they operate around the world have highlighted the need for new and more effective ways to help people visualize and understand the planet's myriad patterns and interactions. Advances in holographic technology initially developed for medical uses offer intriguing new possibilities for projecting dynamic data for the entire world on a three-dimensional spherical projection surface. This new application will occur through the development of a five-foot diameter holograph-like representation of the surface of the Earth that appears to be suspended in the air. Through links with advanced computational equipment, detailed displays of images and data for atmospheric, oceanic, geologic, biological, and human components of the Earth's dynamic systems will be projected onto the globe. An accompanying audio narration will provide viewers with additional information. This globe initially will be displayed at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, with its opening scheduled to coincide with the Smithsonian's 150th birthday celebration in August 1996. After a number of months, the globe will be relocated to a more permanent installation at Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. The overall cost of constructing and displaying the globe is estimated at about $1-million. This cost is being shared by a Federal-private sector partnership that includes NSF, the Smithsonian Institution, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Silicon Graphics, Inc., and Dimensional Media Associates (DMA). Through this interagency agreement, NSF funds will be transferred to DARPA, which will use them to supplement one or more standing contracts with DMA, a private firm that is developing and constructing the globe. In addition to being viewed by hundreds of thousands of museum visitors, all of whom will have an unmatched opportunity to view, appreciate, and better understand the Earth's integrated systems, the globe will be accessible to research scientists, who can explore this sophisticated new technology in order to better understand how three-dimensional media can be used to analyze and present data about global systems more effectively.
