Augmented reality (AR) sandbox developed at University of California, Davis, allows users to tinker with the sand in a real sandbox to change the terrain, and contour lines and colors reflecting the height are projected onto the sand from a projector and updated in near real time. Furthermore, rain can be made to fall, and the movement of the water can be realistically reproduced.
 

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  We made our AR sandbox by ourselves,  and it is on display in the exhibition room (open on weekdays) at the Institute for Planetary Materials in Misasa, Tottori Prefecture. It is used for training of local elementary, junior high, and high school students, and for tours of the laboratory by the general public. We have lent it to a museum for special exhibition. The exhibit is a fun and interactive way to learn about topography, contour lines, watershed and the distribution and movement of water on land.
　Other exhibits in the gallery include rock thin section viewed through a polarizing microscope, in-situ observation of high-pressure ice, a real multi-anvil high-pressure device, a display of mineral structures, a cloud chamber for visualizing radiation, and displays of rocks, minerals, and meteorites.