AVL & Beyond!

After our recent visit to the AVL (Advanced Visualization Lab), my head almost instantly started spinning out of control with ideas! What our class was able to see during our mini field trip was absolutely amazing. I had no idea that the locked down side of the IT building was doing that much state of the art development.

This assignment is one that I feel like I can run with! One piece of technology that really seemed to grab my eye, more than the others, was the device that allowed the user to feel different textures without actually touching them. My mind went on a bit of a rant when I realized that they were testing and developing this device.

My location for this device to be used is the Indianapolis Museum of Art. I really see this device being placed in some sort of either children's area and/or a normal exhibit of really any type of art. The ideal setting for this would be a pottery exhibit. Instead of the user holding onto a pen-like device and looking at a screen, she/he would instead sit down at a throwing wheel wearing a pair of 3D glasses and gloves filled outfitted with censors. The user would then have to control the speed of the throwing wheel just as a normal potter would. They would then pick up a raw chunk of clay and place it on the wheel just like normal. Instead of actually picking anything up, the software, computing engine, and 3D atmosphere would go to work. The viewing screens that the user would be looking at during this process would include a table top screen that would function as the throwing wheel and the piece of pottery that they are creating. A left side panel, a middle screen that would depict directly in front of the user, and a right side panel. There would also be a ceiling panel that would depict the ceiling and where ever else the user would look as well as a floor panel that the user would walk on while entering the virtual pottery studio. This software program that would be running to provide all of this, would allow the end user to throw their own piece of pottery and either email it or save it to their own personal memory stick. She/He would then be able to take this file(s) home and paint and design the look of them in any graphic design program (Illustrator, Photoshop, etc). The entire time the specialized gloves that would be worn would be giving the user the different textures, contours, and surface types that are felt when throwing pottery. Every action the user would provide to the system, there would be a reaction that would be produced by a collaboration of the software, hardware, and user.

This overall experience that the museum would be providing to its guests would not only be a very lucrative exhibition attraction, but also an extra educational tool. This amazing piece of technology would help educate exhibit visitors understand what all it takes to create the wonderful pieces they are viewing in the exhibit.