Author: IDIA Lab

IDIA will be presenting an interactive 3D game developed by students participating in its Immersion Seminar this Thursday, February 7 at Mitchell Place Studios during the Downtown Muncie Arts Walk. Works created by animation and electronic arts students will be showcased as well. The Arts Walk runs from 5-8 on the first Thursday of each month.

IDIA’s Online Mediated Curriculum Project has recently been awarded a $25,000 grant by Blackboard, Inc. The Greenhouse Grant for Virtual Worlds was awarded to IDIA for its virtual film studio within in the realm of Second Life. The grant was awarded due to the project’s adaptive release features between Blackboard and Second Life.

Students participating in IDIA’s Immersion Seminar were named as a winner for an Award of Excellence at the International Digital Media and Arts Association (iDMAa) 2007 National Conference. The award included a $250 cash prize and was presented to only two groups out of the twelve universities participating in the conference’s student showcase. The International Digital Media & Arts Association hosted the Ideas 07: Beyond Boundaries conference in Philadelphia on November 7-11. The project allows the user to manipulate a digital world with wireless objects. Through the use of Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFID), the virtual world can detect the presence of real-world objects and use them to manipulate its own attributes. In the case of this project, physical cubes link the user with virtual cubes within the system and allow the user to call up media such as video and sound. The system uses the software Quest 3D for real-time VR rendering and interactive animation, and MaxMSP for harvesting and inputting RFID data. Additionally, users can navigate the 3D virtual world with the use of a trackball. The project will be on display at the BSU Mitchel Place Studio December 6 during the downtown Artswalk.

Idylls, a video and music composition directed by IDIA Director, John Fillwalk, was recently named the Best Short Film of the 2007 Harvest Moon Film Festival. Idylls, created in collaboration with composer Joseph Harckanko, is an impressionistic montage, looking to the traveling Midwestern carnival as a transformative environment. Harvest Moon is a film festival showcasing the works of Midwestern filmmakers and/or works focusing on the Midwest.

IDIA Faculty Fellow, Jesse Allison, is currently developing an interactive art installation for the Great Ideas Competition. This installation will be displayed in the Arts Garden of Circle Centre Mall in downtown Indianapolis.