KINGSTON, R.I.-August 25, 1999 — Something new has blossomed on the University of Rhode Island’s website (www.uri.edu) that will prove helpful for gardeners, and just plain fun for internet techies. Point your browser to http://www.riaes.org and explore the Virtual Gardens, the URI Agricultural Experiment Station’s new on-line educational project. Unlike traditional websites where images tend to be flat and stagnant, this site puts visitors in the driver’s seat – allowing them to move around inside spherical, 360-degree images. Using Virtual Reality technology the pages of this website come alive by surrounding visitors with three-dimensional panoramic images of the URI’s Learning Landscape. From eight vantage points in the garden, visitors can pan from left to right, up and down and zoom in on the hundreds of beautiful plant and floral species. But this site offers more than just pretty pictures – it also has educational content. Clicking on individual flowers within the virtual scene brings up colorful tight shots with text and voice descriptions of the flora, including how to plant and maintain maintenance – and pesticide-free garden plants. The only feature missing from this site is the smell of the garden’s freshly cut grass! The URI Learning Landscape is located on the University’s Kingston Campus and features evergreen plantings, perennial and annual flowering beds, and a water garden. The real garden can be viewed in person daily. Call (401) 874-2900 for directions or more information. x-x-x For More Information: Jhodi Redlich, 874-2116