Learn how 3D immersive virtual worlds can augment your students’ learning experience directly within Blackboard Learn and CourseSites. The Institute for Digital Intermedia Arts [IDIA Lab] at Ball State University will demonstrate the integration of embedded multi-user virtual environments with Blackboard Learn using Unity 3D – as well as an overview of the Version 9 [...]

Vice-President of Information Technology, Phil Repp and IDIA Lab Director, John Fillwalk traveled to Washington, D.C. to present Ball State projects in electronic field trips, virtual worlds and hybrid design to several federal organizations. Meetings included a presentation at the Smithsonian Institution Building on the National Mall to representatives from all the Smithsonian Museums and [...]

A presentation by Jo Ann Gora, President of Ball State University; Phil Repp, Vice-President of Information Technology; Linda Sweigart, BSU Nursing Faculty; and John Fillwalk, IDIA Lab Director on March 21st 2013 to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. A presentation that examines how universities, like Ball State University, use emerging technologies to enrich and [...]

One Night Only was a film created at Ball State University as an immersive learning experience class ART 299x The Summer Animation Studio. It was a 10-week summer class that created a animation studio called Third Floor Films (www.thirdfloorfilms.com). A large majority of the content was created in the 10 weeks of class but it [...]

At the heart of the exhibit is the Texas Instruments MSP430 microcontroller.  There are five buttons, each corresponding to five theme songs.  When each of the buttons is depressed it triggers that file to be played by the speakers mounted within the cabinet.  For the music playback system an RCA Lyra was wired to be [...]

A digital art installation — the Digital Dome — will be a key component of this year’s Ball State Backyard. The exhibit is sponsored by Ball State in association with its Department of Landscape Architecture. Technology for the dome was provided by Ball State’s Institute for Digital Intermedia Arts and Animation (IDIAA) and the Teleplex. [...]

The Las Americas Virtual Design Studio is made possible through a collaboration between IDIA, the College of Architecture and Planning at Ball State University, the Las Americas Network, with the professional firm of BSA LifeStructures. The project linked 11 international Departments of Architecture, over 100 students and 11 faculty in this immersive collaboration environment. The students worked [...]

It is a movie. It is a stage performance. What began as a short story by one creative writing student has blossomed into a massive collaborative project featuring the talents of dozens of student actors, producers, composers, and many others. Links Creative + Innovative Award Creative + Innovative Award Press Release Daily News Article: ‘The [...]

Students from Ball State University’s Institute for Digital Intermedia Arts created a music video for recording artist Ki: Theory. The entirely animated video for the song Holiday Heart, is the artist’s first professionally produced video for broadcast on popular music television venues. This immersive learning experience connected students to an industry partner, challenged their production [...]

The IDIA Seminar’s current project focuses on virtually recreating the original settings of various sculptures found throughout the Ball State University Museum of Art. The project focused on scanning five different sculptures using a 3D laser scanner. This project has allowed Ball State students to get involved with 3D scanning by learning the method, techniques [...]

The Muncie Max Users Group (MMUG) is a collection of students and faculty using MaxMSP/Jitter to create sonic and visual art. Audio processing, live sonic performance, video tracking, video processing and projection are a few of the avenues that may be explored. MUGG has contributed to several Downtown Artswalk events at Mitchell Place Studios. April [...]

The Immersive Seminar in Intermedia Art is a project-based, interdisciplinary, collaborative production seminar exploring the intersection of aesthetics & emerging technology. Students from across campus are engaged in the production, research and design of both independent and collaborative projects in an interdisciplinary environment consisting of video artists, programmers, designers, animators, & composers. News Coverage Technology: [...]

IDIA Lab has designed a virtual simulation of the villa of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site located outside of Rome in Tivoli, Italy. This project is being produced in collaboration with the Virtual World Heritage Laboratory (VWHL) at the University of Virginia (UVA), directed by Dr. Bernard Frischer and [...]

IDIA, in partnership with the BSU School of Nursing, developed and launched a new Nursing Interview Simulator in the virtual world of Blue Mars. Blue Mars is a next generation and high fidelity virtual world that uses the CryEngine game engine. Student nurses practice interviews via role-playing – using avatars with predefined health histories. http://bit.ly/riEpFb

Ball State University and the Technische Universität Dortmund have partnered in creating an international exchange program for students studying the design and technology of Intermedia artforms. Ball State University and the Technische Universität Dortmund have partnered in creating an international exchange program for students studying the design and technology of Intermedia artforms. This program will [...]

The IDIA has assembled an interdisciplinary group of students, faculty and industry experts in a significant interactive information portal for the Ball State University Museum of Art (BSUMA).  The IDIA team is developing an innovative touch-based interface to navigate the collection, employing and integrating Microsoft Surface with the Museum’s database.  The Surface will afford Museum [...]

IDIA is creating a media rich interactive digital kiosk for the Digital Fabrication Institute’s MMFX Exhibit hosted by the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Students participating in the IDIA Immersion Seminar in Virtual Worlds are developing the interactive interface, which will act as a station within the exhibit where viewers can attain additional biographical and portfolio [...]

The IDIA Lab has developed two new simulations for AvayaLive Engage – a multi-user virtual world platform based on the Unreal Game Engine. The virtual collaboration Center is a multi-use teaching and learning facility prototype for use by large and small groups containing rich media and collaboration tools including desktop sharing, presentations, drop box, white [...]

IDIA Lab Roman Pantheon in Blue Mars Project http://idialab.org/virtual-roman-pantheon-in-blue-mars-cryengine/ Created with Agisoft PhotoScan Professional Edition Agisoft PhotoScan Pro allows to generate high resolution georeferenced orthophotos (up to 5 cm accuracy with GCP) and exceptionally detailed DEMs / textured polygonal models. http://www.agisoft.ru/products/photoscan/professional/ Blue Mars Client The Blue Mars Client is your window into our free to play [...]

Khan Academy featured HDT / IDIA Lab and Virtual World Heritage LaboratoriesDigital Hadrian’s Villa Project.  A walkthrough with archeologist and HDT research fellow Dr. Bernard Frischer. Hosted by Beth Harris, Dean of Art and History at Khan Academy.

The Editor-in-Chief of Elsevier Publishing invited IDIA Director, John Fillwalk to join the Editorial Board of the Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Journal – an international scholarly archive of interactive 3D models of ancient art, buildings and artifacts.

Presented at the 18th International Conference on Virtual Systems and Multimedia Virtual Systems in the Information Society. VSMM is the premier forum for the presentation of research on 3D acquisition, multimedia visualization, interaction technologies and their applications.  Milan, Italy. Published the paper, The Digital Hadrian’s Villa Project Using Virtual Worlds to Control Suspected Solar Alignments http://bit.ly/aX7Hsb. B. [...]

HDT and IDIA Lab have developed a next generation, high-fidelity Virtual Nursing Simulator in the game engine of Unity 3D for testing by the Ball State University School of Nursing. Students will practice interviews via role-playing – employing avatars with predefined health histories. The simulator introduces our new media tools within the environment including the [...]

BSU’s Hybrid Design Technology and IDIA Lab has been contracted by the Mellon Foundation Humanities Virtual World Consortium to design and develop a major open source virtual world initiative for Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage projects. The consortium – comprised of Kings College, London; UCLA; the University of Virginia and Trinity College, Dublin – turned [...]

A presentation by Jo Ann Gora, President of Ball State University; Phil Repp, Vice-President of Information Technology; Linda Sweigart, BSU Nursing Faculty; and John Fillwalk, IDIA Lab Director on March 21st 2013 to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. A presentation that examines how universities, like Ball State University, use emerging technologies to enrich and [...]

Launching Ball State University hosted virtual world, REDgrid – an open source virtual world for education and hybrid learning immersive environment based within Open Simulator. The grid will launch in May of 2013 and provide BSU faculty, students and guests space and opportunity to explore the potential of virtual instruction.   OpenSimulator is an open [...]

BSU’s IDIA Lab is working on several joint projects with Blackboard Learn – including the integration of an embedded multiuser virtual world directly into a Blackboard Learn course as well as a new update for Version 9 Bb of our open source Blackboard Learn Virtual World Building Block project – compatible with both Open Simulator [...]

 The Solar Alignment Simulation of the Roman Pantheon in Blue Mars was developed under consultation with Dr. Robert Hannah of New Zealand, one of the world’s  foremost scholars on Pantheon solar alignments, and archaeologist Dr. Bernard Frischer. The project will premiere in May 2013 and will include new solar simulation software, an interactive HUD and a new Non [...]

Mayan Solar Simulator Izapa Group F Ballcourt We have applied our Virtual Solar Simulator to a simple white model build of the pre-Columbian ballcourt in Group F at the Izapa site in Chiapas, Mexico. Izapa is considered to be the birthplace of the Mayan Long Count, which ends its cycle today on December 21st, 2012 – [...]

The IDIA has virtualized and digitally extended some of the functionality of a library for a virtual online world. The possibilities for extending the functionality and availability of library collections and expertise in the virtual world are staggering. The IDIA has teamed up with Bracken Library to develop their virtual facilities. Some highlights include the [...]

The IDIA is utilizing the open source Augmented Reality toolkit to explore possible applications of AR in the educational and art realms.  Of particular interest is the use of AR in architecture to effectively evaluate students’ white models in a group setting. Dave Schultz demonstrates the use of AR to display 3D architectural models. Dave [...]

Ball State University’s Institute for Digital Intermedia Arts (IDIA) has produced a bridging toolset, linking the multi-user virtual environment of Second Life with Blackboard Learn – providing a unified, secure and fluid hybrid learning experience. This project is funded by the Blackboard Greenhouse Grant for Virtual Worlds and has produced an open-source Building Block. IDIA [...]

The Aesthetic Camera Project was designed to deliver digital cinema curriculum through Second Life – an online virtual world. This intensive research and development project was hatched through a partnership between the College of Fine Arts, the Center for Media Design, and Information Technology. Students learn the techniques of filmmaking in this 3D collaborative multi-user [...]

interActivity was a collaborative art system at the Ball State University Art Museum on February 25th 2007. It was hosted in conjunction with the Engaging Technology exhibit run by the newly minted IDIAA. Links interActivity News Items: Between Two Worlds:Virtuality in Arts and Teaching IDIA at Philips HighTech Campus during Dutch Design Week IDIA is [...]

iDMAa 2009 Conference Networking System encompassing RFID conference badges, RFID enabled automated tweet stations, MS Surface conference information center, Second Life Hybrid networking area, and a central web application for mobile device conference information access. http://conf2009.idmaa.org/conference_system

The Las Americas Virtual Design Studio is made possible through a collaboration between IDIA, the College of Architecture and Planning at Ball State University, the Las Americas Network, with the professional firm of BSA LifeStructures. The project linked 11 international Departments of Architecture, over 100 students and 11 faculty in this immersive collaboration environment. The students worked [...]

The Immersive Seminar in Intermedia Art is a project-based, interdisciplinary, collaborative production seminar exploring the intersection of aesthetics & emerging technology. Students from across campus are engaged in the production, research and design of both independent and collaborative projects in an interdisciplinary environment consisting of video artists, programmers, designers, animators, & composers. News Coverage Technology: [...]

IDIA Lab has designed a virtual simulation of the villa of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site located outside of Rome in Tivoli, Italy. This project is being produced in collaboration with the Virtual World Heritage Laboratory (VWHL) at the University of Virginia (UVA), directed by Dr. Bernard Frischer and [...]

Press Release View the VBAM project VBAM Introductory Lecture     IDIA was commissioned to design and build a virtual presence and artworks for the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum in East Lansing, MI. The physical Museum, is designed by architect Zaha Hadid and opened to the public in Fall 2012. Museum Director, Michael [...]

IDIA, in partnership with the BSU School of Nursing, developed and launched a new Nursing Interview Simulator in the virtual world of Blue Mars. Blue Mars is a next generation and high fidelity virtual world that uses the CryEngine game engine. Student nurses practice interviews via role-playing – using avatars with predefined health histories. http://bit.ly/riEpFb

Ball State University and the Technische Universität Dortmund have partnered in creating an international exchange program for students studying the design and technology of Intermedia artforms. Ball State University and the Technische Universität Dortmund have partnered in creating an international exchange program for students studying the design and technology of Intermedia artforms. This program will [...]

The Virtual Middletown Living Museum project in Blue Mars is a simulation of the Ball Glass factory from early 20th century Muncie, Indiana. Life and conditions in the factory were one of the key elements of the Middletown Studies by Robert S. and Helen Merrell Lynd in their landmark studies Middletown (1929) and Middletown in Transition (1937). These in-depth accounts [...]

Ball State University’s Institute for Digital Intermedia Arts (IDIA) in Blue Mars is a large scale virtual simulation that showcases re-creations of artifacts and artworks in their original historical contexts, including sculptures at the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco and a centuries-old Buddha at a Japanese temple. Through the use of such emerging [...]

The Twitter Cloud is a visualization of real time Tweets (messages) posted on Twitter.com. The system automatically scans specified user feeds, and visualizes new messages as they arrive. This piece was programmed in Java using the Processing API. This project was also linked with the Tweet Station so users could be identified with RFID and [...]