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The Institute for Digital Intermedia Arts (IDIA Lab) at Ball State University explores the intersection between the arts, sciences, and humanities using a broad range of technologies. Founded in 2005, IDIA Lab has been designing scholarly, creative, teaching and learning projects that investigate virtual reality, human computer interface (HCI), augmented reality, mobile apps, interactive artworks, immersive environments, head mounted display, visualization and 3D simulation. The IDIA Lab studios were initially incubated through the Eli Lilly Endowment’s Digital Media Initiative as part of two generous grants to the University. IDIA Lab’s research facilities include five distinct labs – IDIA Lab, CAVE Lab, DOME Lab, HCI Lab, and SIM Lab – all working in concert with tour partner, the Digital Scholarship Lab (DSL). The labs’ faculty, staff and students develop projects in collaboration with a cohort of international clients in this innovative initiative that investigates the forefront of emergent design, expression and learning.


BSU HOSTS XR CONFERENCE

IDIA Lab was invited by the Campus Alliance for Advanced Visualization to host their annual conference (CAAV) in Fall 2023 at the College of Architectures and Planning. The CAAV is a nonprofit organization that promotes the capabilities for use of extended reality technologies, such as CAVE-style immersive VR systems, video walls, headsets, and advanced visualization […]

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AI Art Installation Beijing

AI Art Installation Beijing Wishing Well (许愿池) by media artist John Fillwalk and IDIA Lab, is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) installation that was invited into the 5th Arts and Science International Exhibition and Symposium (TASIES 2019) at the National Museum of China in Beijing located on Tiananmen Square. The exhibition curated the work of international […]

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VR Furniture System

Virtual and on-demand multi-user furniture system for hybrid reality collaborations.Demonstration of real time deployment of virtual furniture to support simulation of various small group and large group spontaneous interactions. Also demo of hybrid reality telepresence system. The Institute for Digital Intermedia Arts (IDIA Lab) at Ball State University explores the intersection between the arts, sciences, […]

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ACADEMY OF DIETETICS AND NUTRITION

IDIA Lab was contracted by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics to develop a dietetics occupational simulator.

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APOLLO 11 50th ANNIVERSARY

3D simulation of Apollo 11 landing created for the John F. Kennedy Library’s 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Mission. Produced for the International MoonBase Alliance. Produced by the Institute for Digital Intermedia Arts at Ball State University. https://idialab.org/ About IMA The International MoonBase Alliance (IMA) is an association comprised of leading scientists, educators, and […]

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NEWARK MOUNDS SIMULATION

Ball State’s Institute for Digital Intermedia Arts (IDIA Lab) and the Applied Anthropology Laboratories (AAL) have created a web-based virtual world that interprets the earthworks in their era of construction. The sky is simulated with accurate celestial bodies using data from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to allow users to view the moon and sun as […]

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Shackelton Crater Animation

Shackleton Crater is an impact crater lying at the South Pole of the Moon. The ridges along the crater’s rim are exposed to almost continual sunlight, while the interior is perpetually cast in shadow. This low-temperature interior of the crater functions to capture frozen water shed during impacts on the Moon. Some sites along Shackleton’s […]

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Interactive Virtual ChatBots

Interactive Virtual ChatBots IDIA Lab’s chatbots provide interactions with virtual 3D animated non-player characters (NPC) that can be created with customized persona profiles. Users can converse with NPCs via voice or text input, where the virtual characters use artificial intelligence to assess the tone of the conversation and reflect simulated responses with facial animation, gesture, […]

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Virtual Elementary School

Virtual Elementary School The Maryknoll Virtual School, created by the IDIA Lab, is a digital twin simulation of a parochial elementary school in Honolulu, HI. The virtual school provides an environment for students and teachers to remotely engage in collaborative real time lectures and conversations in a multiplayer, avatar based teaching environment. The application also […]

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Deep Mapping / VR / GIS

Deep Mapping / VR / GIS Deep Mapping Middletown: Designing Immersive Experiences for Spatialized Historical Data James J. Connolly John Fillwalk Deep Mapping Middletown seeks to represent in spatial termsthe substantial archive produced by research on Muncie, Indiana, USA, the site of Robert and Helen Lynds’ seminal community studies, Middletown (1929) and Middletown in Transition […]

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Smithsonian VR Exhibition

Smithsonian VR Exhibition BSU IDIA Lab developed Virtual Milestones of Flight, an immersive head mounted display prototype designed for the permanent exhibition at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. Both the exhibition and simulation celebrate selections of the most significant airplanes, rockets, and spacecraft in history. Some of these craft incorporated into […]

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Pumapunku Reconstruction

Pumapunku Reconstruction There’s something fascinating about looking at ancient ruins and imagining what the lives and culture might have been like of the people who lived there. With the everchanging advancements in technology, researchers can get closer than they ever have to solving these mysteries. Ball State University faculty John Fillwalk, senior director of the […]

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Augmented Reality Art

Augmented Reality Art MaelStrom AR is an augmented reality installation designed by artist John Fillwalk in collaboration with IDIA Lab (Neil Zehr, Aaron Anderson, and David Rodriguez). This work visualizes live weather data from Washington DC to inform virtual wind direction and speed. This data affects the creation of virtual paper airplanes/messages that fall from […]

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Virtual Hadrian’s Villa Launch at Harvard Center

Virtual Hadrian’s Villa Launch at Harvard Center 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 has been produced in collaboration with the Virtual World Heritage Laboratory (VWHL) at Indiana University (IU), directed […]

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VBAM: VIRTUAL BROAD ART MUSEUM COMMISSION

Press Release View the VBAM project VBAM Introductory Lecture John Fillwalk and the Institute for Digital Intermedia Arts (IDIA Lab) at Ball State University were commissioned to design and build a virtual museum artworks for the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum in East Lansing, MI. The physical Museum, was designed by architect Zaha Hadid […]

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Mellon Foundation Humanities Virtual World Consortium

BSU’s IDIA Lab was 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 to the expertise of BSU’s […]

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Mesa Verde AR Visitor Interpretation App

Mesa Verde AR Visitor Interpretation App Ball State Univeristy’s IDIA Lab has been contracted by the US Department of the Interior to develop virtual visitor experiences for the Mesa Verde National Park. The park preserves and interprets the archeological heritage of the Ancestral Pueblo people who made it their home for over 700 years, from […]

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Virtual Meridian of Augustus: Presentation at the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Archeology

IDIA Lab virtual celestial simulator and 3D interpretation of the Meridian of August in ancient Rome. Project commissioned by the Virtual World Heritage Laboratory at Indiana University, directed by Bernard Frischer. Findings presented at the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Archeology in Rome Thursday December 19th, 2013 A Digital Simulation of the Northern Campus Martius in […]

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Khan Academy

The Khan Academy featured HDT / IDIA Lab and Virtual World Heritage Laboratories Digital Hadrian’s Villa Project. Hosted by Beth Harris, Dean of Art and History at Khan Academy, a walkthrough with archeologist and HDT research fellow Dr. Bernard Frischer showcases the project. A virtual tour of Hadrian’s Villa using a 3D digital model of […]

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Meet3D

Meet3D is a virtual collaboration space that brings people together to share, learn, and work – wherever they are. Private or public auditoriums, classrooms, conference halls or offices can be joined by any group or audience on demand. Meet3D was developed by the Institute for Digital Intermedia Arts at Ball State University to bring remote […]

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