For those of you who have never ventured to the University of Michigan's North Campus, you should. If for no other reason then to check out the technology at the Duderstadt library. This is what I was able to do at the UM3D Lab Open House today.
The UM3D Lab is "an interdisciplinary service facility [that] provides the entire University of Michigan community access to high-end technologies and professional expertise in the general areas of #D simulation, digital fabrication, education, visualization, motion capture, modeling, animation and application development" according to the website. The lab has an open door policy encouraging the public to stop by and see the technology (which I have done) but every so often they have an open house in which you can see demonstrations of the technologies. They also produce small scale projects for free to students and faculty, and are used by various campus groups.
At today's open ouse we got to see demonstrations of M.I.D.E.N. (formerly the cave), which is a virtual reality cave in which designers create environments and put them into a software to create a real virtual environment that moves as you move. This technology is used for everything from architecture to medicine and more. We also saw the Tiled Display, a 16 monitor wall. This provides way to visualize scenes on a large scale.
Probably my favorite thing we saw today was the motion capture. The use of 8 cameras to capture and compile the motion of a figure in a computer program. The demonstrators explained how this technology was not only used for Hollywood (where they use up to hundreds of cameras at a time), but also for medical purposes. This particular team was from a movement science class in the school of kinesiology and studying momentum.
The UM3D Lab is "an interdisciplinary service facility [that] provides the entire University of Michigan community access to high-end technologies and professional expertise in the general areas of #D simulation, digital fabrication, education, visualization, motion capture, modeling, animation and application development" according to the website. The lab has an open door policy encouraging the public to stop by and see the technology (which I have done) but every so often they have an open house in which you can see demonstrations of the technologies. They also produce small scale projects for free to students and faculty, and are used by various campus groups.
At today's open ouse we got to see demonstrations of M.I.D.E.N. (formerly the cave), which is a virtual reality cave in which designers create environments and put them into a software to create a real virtual environment that moves as you move. This technology is used for everything from architecture to medicine and more. We also saw the Tiled Display, a 16 monitor wall. This provides way to visualize scenes on a large scale.
Probably my favorite thing we saw today was the motion capture. The use of 8 cameras to capture and compile the motion of a figure in a computer program. The demonstrators explained how this technology was not only used for Hollywood (where they use up to hundreds of cameras at a time), but also for medical purposes. This particular team was from a movement science class in the school of kinesiology and studying momentum.
There were, of course, several more things to be seen at the UM3D lab open house, but the moral of the story is this: there are so many things to explore at the University of Michigan campus. Of course, I would suggest the UM3D lab, but there are also classes (movement science for example!) and events that can open your eyes to the rest of the world. You never know the opportunities that may await you or what you might learn. So what are you waiting for, get out there and explore!
For more information on the UM3D lab, refer to their website here.
