Rain Table - An interactive museum educates about rainfall

Developed by the Electronic Visualization Laboratory at the University of Illinois in collaboration with the Department of Geology at the University of Minnesota, and the Science Museum of Minnesota, the Rain Table is an interactive museum exhibit which allows visitors to interact with 2D maps of the earth on a large high-res table. Visitors can also select locations of rainfall and watch as the rain flows down mountains, rivers and across fields cutting channels through slopes and plains. Several people can use the table at a particular time via electronic pucks that generates a real-time visualization of the rainfalls on the 7-by-3-foot, 24-Megapixel display table built with six Dell LCD 2560x1600 displays, driven by 6 computers.

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The location of the pucks is determined by six infrared cameras mounted overhead. The exhibit is meant to educate people about rainfall distribution, how flash floods are caused and how run off rainwater can spread pollutants and wastewater into water supplies.

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Source: EVL