I think it is already obvious that 3D Atlanta is like my baby. Been one of my favorite projects to be a part of. So what is going on with 3D Atlanta lately? Well modeling team is always on their toes creating mesmerizing builds. Kimball House, Old Equitable Building, and Olympia Building are a few buildings that have/in the works of being added to our model. Research side continues to gather more pictures of buildings around Atlanta to help the modeling team draft the builds. We are working on collaborating with Computer Science classes by providing them with building images to create builds. Allie and I drafted a list of 30 simple buildings, and are working on gathering more images for better 360 view of the buildings for them.

I am also working with the library to have another Oculus Rift session during final week, since the first one was such a great success. Hopefully we can use both screens on the 1st floor of Library North with the one for Manuel Tavern interactive model and one for 3D Atlanta. We’ll see how it plans out. But for now, this is the update on the 3D Atlanta project.

Til next time,

Krisna

Finally after 4 long months, the TEDx I did on 3D Atlanta is finally released on YouTube. It was an amazing opportunity to be able to share this beloved project to the GSU community. It was insane how the opportunity came my way. One day I was sifting through my email, and came across the TEDxGeorgiaStateU application. I thought it would be a great opportunity to showcase the 3D Atlanta project to GSU, and decided to apply for it out of whim. I received an email that I was nominated as a potential speaker, and they wanted to interview me.

After talking to Brennan, he suggested that I share some of the maps we have been stitching along with videos of the 3D builds so far. At the interview, I went into further detail about the project, specifically discussing before and afters in Atlanta. How Classroom South used to be Theatre 81, a jazz and blues theatre in the 30s, was my favorite story to share. After showing the pictures along with maps stitchings and both the GSU and Emory 3D build videos, the judges were blown away. I felt confident and excited, but also a bit nervous after the interview. A week later, I was told that I was accepted as a speaker for the TEDxGeorgiaStateU!!

The TEDxGeorgiaStateU crew were super sweet when it came to helping me prepare for my talk. I went in for the speaker rehearsal with the committee, where we talked about how to possibly structure my talk in terms of the layout. And then we met with the Speaker Coach the next week, who gave me more advice on how I should structure the talk in regards to the wording and visuals, as well as figuring out what is the overall theme to my talk. 

I was stumped on what the theme could be of my talk, and decided to set up a meeting with Brennan to see if he can help me find a universal theme to my topic. We met at Ebrik, and after going through all the notes from the speaker rehearsals, he came up with the idea of beginning the talk with the before and after, showcasing the 3D Atlanta project by showing the stitched maps and the GSU & Emory 3D builds, and finishing it off by discussing what is virtual reality and how it is changing the game in education today. It was then that I was able to come up with the title for the talk “Rediscovering Atlanta through Virtual Reality.”

After meeting with Brennan, I drafted out a PowerPoint to put all my visuals, and prepared for the dress rehearsal. At dress rehearsal, I just went on a rant off the PowerPoint, and the committee approved with a few words of advice. I used redundant language, so I had to be careful, and I put multiple images on a slide, which I was told to just separate into another slide. 

The next Friday was the day of the event. I was super nervous and anxious as I came to Centennial Hall. I got set up, and took a seat, watching my fellow speakers nailing their talks. Four talks later, I was introduced by the hosts, and it was my turn to go on stage. Still a bit nervous, I took a deep breath, and tried to not think that I was speaking in front of a crowd of 100, but rather I was giving a presentation to some friends about the 3D Atlanta project. Before I knew it, the nerves left me, and I was able to crack a few jokes within my talk. Minutes later, I ended the talk, and there was an applause. The hosts came back out, and asked me a question about where people can go to learn more about the project. It was then that I switched to the final slide with the SIF 3D Atlanta website, and everyone in the room took out their cell phones to take a picture.

It was a really good feeling to be able to capture the interest of over 100 people within the GSU community. I was lucky to be the last talk before the dinner break. As I was waiting in line for dinner, I had over 10-15 people talking to me congratulating me on a great talk, and asking about more details on the project. It was an amazing feeling of fulfillment to be able to go out and showcase one of my favorite SIF projects at an event like TEDxGeorgiaStateU!!

It is super excited to hear that after suggesting to have an oculus rift session in the library, Brennan worked wonders by talking to Bryan, who loved the idea as part of a stress reliever during finals week in the library. The SIF team will officially be showing how the 3D Atlanta project is coming along through Oculus Rifts in Library North 1st floor from 10 AM-4 PM. It is very exciting as we have planned to have a session like this for 2 years now, and we finally have a few building blocks ready for preview. I am super pumped. I will be working with Kaydee Wilson, communications coordinator for the library, to design a digital sign to put up on the screens of the library, and possibly working with Dylan to help revamp the SIF site, and particularly the 3D Atlanta site. This project will be gaining more internal press after the TEDxGeorgiaStateU, and the Oculus Rift session. Stay tuned for more updates on the project.

Til next time,

Krisna 

Last week I had the honor of speaking as a speaker at the TEDxGeorgiaStateU. It was a wonderful event, where I got to meet some really cool people who had amazing things to talk about. The talks varied from environmental problems in west Atlanta to denial of racism to how we interpret lyrics of singer-songwriters to how we are hurting more than helping in nonprofits, and much more. It was an amazing night to be a part of. I have to admit I was VERY nervous about my talk. Even though it was about 3D Atlanta, and I knew enough about the project to talk for a day, I felt nervous to speak in front of 100 people. I didn’t know what kind of a crowd to expect. I felt a bit bad because I was rehearsing my talk in my head when a friend of mine went to give his talk. But then, when I was introduced, I just went up there, and pretending like I was talking to a group of friends. Went through my talk, and before I knew it, it was over. The crowd applauded, and everyone took out their phones to take a picture of the 3D Atlanta website link. It was a proud moment for me to represent the SIF program and the 3D Atlanta team at this event. For now, I will post the slides I used for my talk,  but stay tuned for the full TEDxGeorgiaStateU video coming soon.

Til Next Time,

Krisna

On Monday, I had the opportunity to be interviewed by the Keith Parker, CEO of Marta for an internship position under him where I would get to collect information about his career and accomplishments with Marta, and create a journal, that he can use for a possible autobiography down the road. If given the internship position, I will have access to his schedule and be able to attend board meetings or even shadow departments and other operations within Marta. It seemed like an amazing opportunity that I am crossing my fingers to get. I write about this opportunity today, as I talked about the SIF program during my interview, and the 3D Atlanta project. My stories as a SIF reminded Mr. Parker of the days when he began at Marta as an intern. His job required he ran errands like get coffee, donuts, etc. One day, he was given an opportunity to prove himself by create a map system. From Thursday to Monday, he taught himself geocoding and created a map system to show all the routes of the Marta bus systems. His story inspired me, especially in terms of my work with 3D Atlanta. I hope to gain this amazing opportunity to work with him, and be able to grow as a person in the same way that SIF has molded me into today.

Til next time, 

Krisna

In my last post, I shared some details about the progress on 3D Atlanta. Lately, I have been working on a photo stitching project, where we are taking both old and current pictures and stitching them together to help the 3D team mold it into a 3D model. I was assigned to stitch photos from Underground Atlanta, which consisted of current photos taken recently. After watching Priyanka’s great tutorial, I was able to stitch the photos together on Photoshop. Check out the results!

Til next time, 

Krisna

So continuing my 2nd year as a SIF and my 2nd year as a part of the 3D Atlanta team, my knowledge for mapping continues to grow. Although I am on the research side, it is incredible to see how we can find pictures with the address, pinpoint them onto an photo map that is stitched into the modern-day Atlanta map, and then search for the exact location using Google Earth. It is amazing how we can see where exactly that former building stands today, and through this, we can see how it has evolved over time. Many building found in our research still exist today, while others were turned into the millions of parking decks we have in Atlanta haha. But 3D Atlanta has always been an amazing project to be a part of, and everyday I learn something new about Atlanta and how it has evolved over time. I have learn to really love my city, and I cannot wait to see how much we can accomplish with 3D Atlanta, and show the rest of our community how our loving city has changed in the course of decades.

Til next time,

Krisna

            It feels like years are flying now. Just wanted to make a quick speel about my life lately before 2015 comes to a close. Every now and then, I think one should actually sit back and ponder about what they have accomplished in their life. I think I might just do the same. I just turned 20 a month ago, and most may say “You’re so young. You have so much life to live,” but turning 20 really hit me. I am 2 decades now. Time to start getting serious about my life, especially with graduation crawling around the corner. This semester has had many ups and downs. I continue to hate commuter life, but I decided to make the more out of it. So I began joining organizations (which I should have done when I lived in Atlanta previously..), but I guess it’s never too late huh. 

             I joined 2 organizations that were starting to develop their footprint on GSU: PantherHackers and Colleges Against Cancer. Starting up PantherHackers lead me to my position as Chief Marketing Officer, while I worked myself up from Marketing and PR Chair in the Advisory Council to Vice President of Marketing and PR in the Executive Board in Colleges Against Cancer. While juggling with these leadership positions, I continued as a SIF working with the marketing/website and the 3D Atlanta project, and a new position as a workshop trainer with CII. Sounds like a handful huh? Did I mention I take 18 credit hours, and I’m trying to graduate in December…

             So as you can tell, I might have gone a little overboard with the workload, but 2015 has played a major role in helping me become more responsible and manage my time better, something that I have always been struggling with. Closing the chapter of all the fun times in 2015, and looking forward to 2016 with an open mind and hoping to do better. Take the time to think back of all you have done, and how you can improve on any mistakes you have made along the way. Every experience is a learning experience that makes us wiser day after day.

Til next time, 

Krisna

Continuing to work on 3D Atlanta, I have been continuing to organize all of our research about Atlanta for the convenience of both the research and the modeling side. We decided that we needed to create an intermediary between the two groups so the modeling side can take pictures and information from the research side to put into the 3D models they create. As of now, we are solely building the foundation of a temporary intermediary until we find a better program for our means. As mentioned in my last post, we started by organizing the research (pictures and facts) in an Excel spreadsheet by separating the research into layers by decade and color coding each as seen below.

The spreadsheet is split into 7 sections as shown above, with the last section connecting the research to the MyMaps created. If the box for that section is in green, then it is added to the MyMaps. If it is in yellow, there is missing information for that point, and if it is in blue, then the location point is an approximate. Below shows the pinpoints of the research on a MyMaps in Google Maps that are color coded to match the layers created from the spreadsheet.

Each layer in the map represents a decade, and each point is color coded to represent places from that decade as the following:

  = 1800s  & early 1900s

 = 1920s

 = 1930s

  = 1940s

 = 1950s

 = 1960s

 = 1970s

 = 1980s

  = 1990s

Each pinpoint contains the information and the exact/approximate location from the research of places done in Atlanta done by the research side. Here is a picture to show the information found on a pinpoint from the late 1800s. 

We are using both the Excel spreadsheet and the Google MyMaps as an intermediary where the modeling side can take the findings of the research side to place into their 3D models. The research side tells their stories about Atlanta, which the modeling side brings to life with their models of each location. 

This is just a snippet of what the research side has been working on. Stay tuned for updates.

Til next time,

Krisna

It feels great to return as a SIF. In my second year running, I’ve learned a lot about the program as a whole and about myself. Last year was our first year, and it was a learning experience for all of us. We learned fast that the objectives were fuzzy and we weren’t always sure of the end product. Our vision in the beginning never always match our results in the end, sometimes it would be better, other times it was just enough to get the job done. But I loved my experience as a SIF and it has helped me grow as a person as I’ve learned how to work better in groups, how to get my ideas noticed, and was finally able to be more professional in my verbal language. It took time, but I learned a lot along this journey.

And the journey still continues. Right now, I am working with Dylan and Ryan on our SIF website that will be published soon. We are also looking at ways to market the SIF program as a whole through our website and social media platforms like YouTube. Also, we are trying to work on the SIF public image and create a positive public relations with other organizations as SIF is all about collaboration.

In addition, I continue to work on the famous SIF project, 3D Atlanta. I ordered the research collected from the research side into a database, originally created by Allie, and split it into decades and organized it accordingly, which is shown below. Allie and I plan to take this data and import it into a map system to create actual pinpoints that the modeling team can use to model specific locations for their blocks. It is the medium between the research and modeling sides.

I will keep posting more about 3D Atlanta and the SIF website, so stay tuned to see more of my happenings as a SIF.

Til next time,

Krisna

          Wow. I can’t believe that I am already done with my second year of college and my first year being a SIF. Time really does fly by quickly. Looking back, I feel like I have accomplished a lot compared to any other job I have done in the past. I have been involved in 4 projects in the course of my first year as a SIF. 

          The first project I got involved in was the SIF Outreach Project during my first semester as a SIF. Working with Thomas and Babacar, the objective of this project was to market the technology facilities we have to offer at Georgia State University. After much planning and research, we came across a list including the Digital Aquarium, the Exchange, Aderhold Learning Center and the CURVE amongst many more. Unfortunately, many of these spaces were undergoing remodeling, so we couldn’t really film them. The only space that was up-to-date was the CURVE, so that became our main objective. After filming, editing, voice-overs, and music searching, we finally came with a final product to promote the CURVE. We had many ups and downs with this project, but we were all pretty content with the end result. Check out the video and let me know what you think. 🙂

           Moving onto the second project, the Latin America Social Media Branding. The name itself sounded very interesting. The objective was to market Latin American countries with the use of social media. This project unfortunately got deferred, but I am hoping it will open back  up soon.

          The third project I’m on is 3D Atlanta. Our team includes Robert, Nathan, Wasfi, Allie, Thomas, Ryan, and me. There are two sides to our team: the modeling side and the research side. Robert, Nathan, and Wasfi are on the modeling side. With the help of Blender and Unity, these guys take your old fashion 20s pics and turn them into a 3D virtual world that you can walk through with the use of an oculus rift. I am on the research side with Allie, Thomas, and Ryan. We basically give life to the 3D model. We research pictures, music, videos, and other information that can help us create a storyline for our 3D model to follow. Our research concentration at the moment relies within Decatur Street, which is also where the guys are modelling right now. We will expand over time to encompass the Georgia State campus in the 20s and towards the rest of Atlanta for the 20s and the decades beyond. 3D Atlanta is a major project we are continuing to work on alongside with Emory. Here’s the video Babacar made as a little teaser for our 3D model.

          Last but not least, the 1934 Tax Maps. This is a project that Amber and Nicole basically put their lives too haha. Shootout to those two for creating awesome easy-to-follow instruction guides for all the undergrad SIFs and CURVE employees to use in order to do this project. So we begin with a simple tax map photo. 

 We stitch this tax map photo onto an actual outline of a map of Atlanta today. The red/green lines consist of streets and roads that make up Atlanta today.

The picture is then stitched transparently on the Atlanta map outline. 

Afterwards, you search the street names on the map photo to locate them on the Atlanta map and then using control points, you align the picture to the actual map,

Here is a zoomed look on how the alignment of the photo and the map is done.

 We did this to about 35 different tax map photos each and then clipped them to stick the two together. It was a great project to be a part of and learn how to use ArcGIS. 

All in all, it was a great first year of being a SIF and I am more than excited to see what new adventures come my way in the years to come. 

Til next time, 

Krisna

             After talking to Ryan, we came to the conclusion that the SIF program needs to be marketed better so more people know about and people can see our research. We have a SIF site, but it does have some shortcomings. We talked to Brennan and Joe, who were both up for the idea of creating a Marketing team solely for the SIF program. We create so many videos for our projects, but we need a forum for them. So Ryan and I thought we could give the SIF website a makeover and create a site that encompasses everything not only SIF related, but also CURVE, the Exchange, and CII related. Hopefully, we can get this marketing branch for SIF up and running for the Fall semester. Keep checking my posts for more updates.

Til next time, 

Krisna

         Being a SIF is one of the greatest decisions I’ve ever made. It continues to be a life-changing experience for me. I originally worked the marketing department previously and had a job transfer to be a SIF. It sounded like a good idea back then and I have never regretted it ever since. Being a SIF gave me an opportunity to apply my 2 majors to work, Marketing and Computer Information Systems, which is something I didn’t get to do in my previous job. I get to work with faculty on research projects to help both students and faculty. With SIF giving me so many great opportunities, I just had to change my mind about transferring to tech.

        Spring semester had a big kickoff for me. I’m in a handful of projects: SIF outreach, Latin America & social media branding, 3D Atlanta, & 1936 tax map. Just a small brief about each project. With SIF outreach, we just finished up with the curve filming and will begin the editing process soon. The Latin America Social Media Branding Project is on hold at the moment. 3D Atlanta is going great. We have found some great research to add to the model to make it interactive like articles and pictures of Coca Cola, prohibition, and fashion in the 20s. Finally, I began the tutorial for the 1936 tax map with Nicole, and we start to puzzle the pieces together for the map. But all in all, each project is a learning experience every day. Stay tuned to hear more.

Til next time, 

Krisna