1Michael J. Griffin, University of Oxford (michael.griffin@oriel.ox.ac.uk)Cyprien Lomas, University of British Columbia / ELI (cyprien.lomas@ubc.ca)

nmc 2005

2

nmc 2005

Our roadmap:

The Ancient Spaces Project1) building buildings…

evolution

2) Open Source Antiquities

3) next steps?

3

nmc 2005

ILearn about ancient architecture

by stepping into the shoes of the architect2004-2005

4

nmc 2005

January, 2004

•Initial proposal by three students at UBC

• Create an networked 3D ‘Acropolis of Athens’

• All content developed by students as a learning method

• To be improved by each year’s class for the next generation

Funded by UBC Arts Instructional Support and Information Technology and supported by the

Department of Classical, Near Eastern, and Religious Studies

5

nmc 2005

The Acropolis of Athens, c. 430-330 BCE Map and Plan

6

nmc 2005

Ancient Spaces preliminary modeling: The Parthenon

7

nmc 2005

February, 2004• Putting preliminary content ‘in-game’ for multiple players

• Technology chosen: mod of Epic’s ‘Unreal’ platform

8

nmc 2005

February-April, 2004 Content completed and imported into Unreal

9

nmc 2005

February-April, 2004 Content completed and imported into Unreal

10

nmc 2005

April-June, 2004

•Demonstration to Department of Classics

•June presentation by students at the NMC conference

• Successes. Three students deeply engaged with a learning project for their peers.

• Criticisms. Faculty expressed concern about the accuracy of student-created (and imperfect) models for teaching.

11

nmc 2005

Next steps: Summer, 2004

•UBC TLEF funding awarded

• fully tested in a class (Classical Studies 100).

• The 3D models would be accompanied by a written argument defending their reconstructions from academic plans.

• Concerns about accuracy addressed by three-tier process.

•Actual modeling would be done by undergraduates & vetted by faculty before ‘publication’

•Grad students are intermediaries between technology & academics.

12

nmc 2005

September, 2004

•Twenty-five 3D-ready computers upgraded in Faculty of Arts

•Arts ISIT Lab assigned to Classical Studies

•Unreal 2004 installed on all machines

•One graduate TA and Ancient Spaces founder assigned to handle the volunteer class

•Library resources assembled for undergraduates

13

New challenge:

Twenty-five students needing technology education (without CLST 100 turning into a technology class), and no previous archaeological experience, would create a learning environment for their peers

nmc 2005

14

nmc 2005

The Agora of Athens, c. 430-330 BCE Map and Plan

15

nmc 2005

September 2004-January 2005 Content created in UnrealEd

16

nmc 2005

September 2004-January 2005 Content created in UnrealEd

17

nmc 2005

•Fifteen structures modeled by twenty-five first-year students

•Academic accuracy vetted by graduate students in collaboration with academic supervisors

•Results published on www.ancientspaces.com and made publicly available.

• Results on the archaeology section of the examination were quantitatively improved.

•sense of ‘camaraderie’ that came from a student-directed project.

• several students from the project came forward to help direct Ancient Spaces in 2005.

18

nmc 2005

IIAntiquity Comes Alive

2005-2006

19

nmc 2005

August, 2005 Expanding the project: new goals

• Creative learning. Content will continue to be developed by students at participating institutions democratically, employing an ‘open-source’ approach to collaboration.

• Additive. Each year’s creation will become a learning environment for the next generation.

• Accuracy. To continue to ensure academic accuracy, all content will also be vetted by an online ‘anonymous peer review’ process (thus circumventing the ‘Wikipedia issue’).

20

nmc 2005

August, 2005 Expanding the project: new goals

• Original research. New archaeological excavations will be ‘published’ on Ancient Spaces, representing a new means of getting academic content beyond the academy:

• Popular gaming. Student-created content will become the content of a massively multiplayer game focused on ancient cultures and designed for the public.

21

nmc 2005

August, 2005 Expanding the project

• Ancient Spaces will expand to include Egypt and First Nations cultures.

• The MMORPG is intended to become a true community ‘game’, teaching by cultural immersion rather than ‘piggybacking’ pedagogy on popularity.

• A library of geometrical ‘building blocks’ is provided by professional 3D artists. Students draw on this library to reconstruct entire structures and scenes.

22

nmc 2005

August, 2005 New Technology

• Beginning in June 2006, Ancient Spaces will rely upon an open-source 3D client and editor based on OGRE 3D. This client will allow for in-game editing by students, and will improve considerably on real-time model rendering. • Publication of content online will be accomplished using Pachyderm, in collaboration with Arts ISIT at UBC.

• The website will be a persistent repository of editable and consistently improving 3D content, allowing for the peer-review process with participating academics.

23

nmc 2005

Ancient Spaces new models: Open Source?

24

nmc 2005

25

nmc 2005

Ancient Spaces new models: Egypt and Rome

26

nmc 2005

Ancient Spaces new models: Egypt and Rome

27

nmc 2005

Ancient Spaces new models: Egypt and Rome

28

nmc 2005

Ancient Spaces new models: Evolution of the Parthenon

29

nmc 2005

Ancient Spaces new models: Evolution of the Parthenon

30

nmc 2005

Ancient Spaces new models: Evolution of the Parthenon

31

nmc 2005

Ancient Spaces new models: Evolution of the Parthenon

32

nmc 2005

IIIPrinciples and Broader Applications

33

nmc 2005

General Principles

Undergraduate students learn by creating

Each class’s creations are designed as learning environments for the next generation

Academic fidelity is encouragedthrough an anonymous ‘peer review’ process

Final content is delivered in a popular formas a new means of providing academic content

to the public

34

nmc 2005

General Principles

Rich fluid environment

Interactions at appropriate level of engagement

Social

Owned

Build your Own

35

nmc 2005

General Principles (cont’d.)

Three-tiered approach•Faculty•Graduate Students•Undergraduate Students

Graduate students mediate between members of faculty and undergraduates, working to ensure the practical value of

this approach in everyday teaching.

Classes complemented through Ancient Spaces do not become ‘technology’ classes requiring additional ‘know-how’ on

the part of the faculty or students

36

nmc 2005

Applicability

Transferable Lessons?

Construction

Student input

Complex modeling

Appropriate engagement

37

nmc 2005

Applicability

Sciences

Students modeling the worlds of the ‘very large’ and the ‘very small’

Complex modeling of economic and social systems

Mathematics

(For peers and for non-specialists)

38

nmc 2005

Applicability

Interdisciplinarity: Sciences and the Humanities

Imago mundi:

The evolution of cosmology from antiquity to the modern day:

Common problems and approaches in science, philosophy, and mythology from Egypt to Einstein

39

nmc 2005

Applicability

Interdisciplinarity: Sciences and the Humanities

Imago mundi:

•Building Blocks

•Release and share

•Share early share often

•Peer Review

•Standards

40

nmc 2005

Applicability

Interdisciplinarity: Sciences and the Humanities

Imago mundi:

•Building a framework for simulations

• the philosophy of the tools…

41

nmc 2005

Applicability

Interdisciplinarity: Sciences and the Humanities

Imago mundi:

•Fit into existing practices…

•Work with existing academic cultures

42

nmc 2005www.ancientspaces.com

43

www.ancientspaces.comlandfood.jot.com/ancientspaces/