Rome Reborn, Digital Rome: 3D animated history and archaeology

A recent article posted by Tracy Staedter on the Discovery News website highlights the Rome Reborn project. Rome Reborn is a 3-D re-creation of Rome as it stood in 320 A.D. The project has involved an interdisciplinary, international team of people, including computer scientists, artists, archaeologists, and historians from UCLA, the Politecnico di Milano (Italy), and the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

According to the article, Rome Reborn (Digital Rome) will be teaching tool as well as part of an on-line 3-D peer-reviewed journal, a place for researchers to publish and share their work on the project over time.

Here is a link to another detailed article on Ian Foster's blog about Rome Reborn/Digital Rome: http://ianfoster.typepad.com/blog/2007/06/digital_rome.html


On a related note, I am waiting in great anticipation for my Novint Falcon 3-D haptic game controller. Wouldn't it be great if we could provide people with visual impairments the chance to experience Rome Reborn in 3-D using the Novint Falcon? For more information, visit the Novint Falcon.

Preschool Playroom - teaching play skills through video modeling for preschoolers with autism

Have you heard of the NECC (New England Center for Children)?

NECC offers a video modeling program to help teach play skills to preschoolers with autism. The videos come with progress monitoring charts. Please post me a comment if you have worked with the NECC Preschool Playroom as a teacher, parent, or related service provider.

Realistic 3D technology for artists - from ID games

Here is a quick link to a video of John Carmack, from ID software, that highlights some of the latest 3D graphics technology for games.

Wouldn't it be nice if ID could put together a workshop for some art K-12 art teachers over the summer? I'd like to see more computers used for art creation in our schools. I think the students would, too.



Direct link to the full video stream from Apple: http://stream.qtv.apple.com/events/jun/d7625zs/m_99427722_650_ref.mov

Usabililty guidelines for touch screen or surface applications from SAP

Here is a link to usability design guidelines for touch-screen applications on the SAP design guild website, posted by Gerd Waloszek, of the Product Design Center.

Although these guidelines were written in 2000, they still hold true in 2007, especially now that larger touch-screen applications such as Microsoft Surface (Madrid) have recently been unveiled.


Touch Screen Design Guide

Microsoft Surface multi touch screen table - I wish I had one for my projects last semester!

Microsoft Research recently unveiled Microsoft Surface: http://microsoft.com/surface

This multi - touch table can be used for a variety of applications, as outlined in the video from CNET and YouTube below:



I'd like to work on applications for use on a touch-table to support students with special needs, especially those who have autism spectrum disorders.

Last semester, I worked on prototype applications for use on a touch-screen surface -here is a photo. We used a NextWindow Human Touch large-screen display, which provided great screen resolution and touch-response.






This application was part of a travel-planning prototype developed for a course in Human-Computer Interaction. The application was demonstrated on a NextWindow Human Touch large screen display. Would it work on the iPhone?





Update: Examples from some of my other posts:


Here is another demo videoclip of a globe created in GoogleEarth using photo-overlays, with links to video clips uploaded to YouTube and embedded in individual posts on a blog. The above photo and the video clip show the application on a NextWindow Human Touch large-screen display.

This application would be great on a touch-table or touch-table set up on a drafting board. Although it was designed for a travel-planning application, it would work well in educational settings in subjects such as geography.


Poetry Picture Share



This was my first attempt at a "poetry picture share" application. It was designed for use on a multi-touch table and can be accessed remotely so people in different places can move things around on the screen. The video shows how the application works on a NextWindow Human Touch interactive large-screen display.

I am planning on adapting this application for use with students with special needs, such as those who have autism or other communication disorders.

TeacherTube: "Teach the World"- a great resource

TeacherTube is the educator's version of YouTube. According to information provided on the TeacherTube website, "Our goal is to provide an online community for sharing instructional videos. We seek to fill a need for a more educationally focused, safe venue for teachers, schools, and home learners. It is a site to provide anytime, anywhere professional development with teachers teaching teachers. As well, it is a site where teachers can post videos designed for students to view in order to learn a concept or skill."

TeacherTube


Many school districts block the use of YouTube. I hope this won't be the case with TeacherTube. It looks like a great resource.

-Lynn