The IDIA Lab offers curriculum in partnership with the Department of Art and the School of Music in the College of Fine Arts; and the Department of Architecture in the College of Architecture and Planning at Ball State University. IDIA immersive learning and emerging media experiences attract students from all disciplines to design and produce a host of interactive digital projects. Undergraduate and graduate curriculum in new media are available in Art, Music, and Architecture. Several new programs are also in development.
Curriculum and Facilities
The IDIA Lab’s Immersive Seminar that involves students from across campus to work on innovative projects. Check out our recent news for descriptions of current and ongoing projects.
Immersion Projects
Interactive Virtual ChatBots
Interactive Virtual ChatBots The Institute for Digital Intermedia Arts (IDIA Lab) at Ball State University has developed a demonstration of how artificial intelligence can drive real-time gestural and vocal responses in 3D virtual characters within the Unity game engine. This project showcases a new generation of AI-enabled non-player characters (NPCs) capable of engaging users through […]
Read More About Interactive Virtual ChatBotsVirtual Elementary School
Virtual Elementary School The Virtual Elementary School Project, designed by the Institute for Digital Intermedia Arts (IDIA Lab) at Ball State University for Maryknoll Elementary School in Honolulu, Hawai‘i, creates a fully interactive digital twin of the school’s physical campus. This innovative platform extends Maryknoll’s educational mission into an immersive online environment, enabling students, teachers, […]
Read More About Virtual Elementary SchoolSmithsonian 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 […]
Read More About Smithsonian VR ExhibitionNSF FUNDED VIRTUAL SIMULATION OF HADRIAN’S VILLA
NFS Funded Virtual Simulation of Hadrian’s Villa 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 […]
Read More About NSF FUNDED VIRTUAL SIMULATION OF HADRIAN’S VILLAResearch
The History Channel’s The Universe, Ancient Mysteries Solved: Roman Engineering
John Fillwalk, director of the Institute for Digital Intermedia Arts and senior director of the university’s Hybrid Design Technologies initiative, was interviewed for the History Channel’s “The Universe.” The episode, which aired 9 p.m. May 23, featured the IDIA Lab’s digital recreation of ancient Roman structures. For the season finale of its popular program “The […]
Read More About The History Channel’s The Universe, Ancient Mysteries Solved: Roman EngineeringNEWARK 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 […]
Read More About NEWARK MOUNDS SIMULATIONOld Planetarium + Cutting Edge Studio
OLD PLANETARIUM REVAMPED INTO CUTTING-EDGE STUDIO Months after the opening of the Charles W. Brown Planetarium, Ball State has found a new use for its almost 50-year-old predecessor. The dome-shaped room in the basement of the Cooper Science Complex has become a production facility dedicated to developing new shows for planetariums nationwide. “This is an […]
Read More About Old Planetarium + Cutting Edge StudioNATIONAL AWARD: VIRTUAL ESCAPE ROOM
The BSU College of Health and CAP’s IDIA Lab were honored with a national award for their collaborative virtual escape room project. The serious game, “The Case of the Kidnapped Healthcare Professionals: Virtual Escape Room” was selected to receive the 2023 Creativity in Practice and Education Award from the National Academies of Practice (NAP). BSU’s […]
Read More About NATIONAL AWARD: VIRTUAL ESCAPE ROOM