Tag Archives: digital humanities

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New Semester–Same Exciting Projects

  February 3, 2015 , ,

Hey Guys! *long sigh of relief* Finally on the other side of a flu storm that started last week. The other good news is that I get to give you guys some updates on all the projects I’ve been working on. Let’s start with the Digital Signage Project: I turned in a final prototype for the Digital Signage Project to the Exchange to start the process of getting it on campus. It’s been a long road with that project but it’s worked out great! Both hands can be used to interact with the objects, but only the right hand can interact with the arrows that cycle through the different models. It will be very easy to add more models as we need them–I just need to drop a few files, add a few lines of code, and recompile the project to a flash drive. The colors and fonts used in the project are all official Georgia State University colors and fonts, and we even have our own official logo for the SIF program! If you guys get a chance, go play with this project at the Exchange and send in any feedback! It’s a basic prototype right now, but with time it can be expanded to do more! My main focus the past few weeks has been split between the 3D Atlanta project and the new NextEngine Scanners we have at CURVE. NextEngine Scanners: These things are great! They do a great job at getting small objects scanned in at … Continue reading

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Playing around with data visualization and early modern texts

  January 26, 2015 , ,

As the Hoccleve project nears our first major milestone, the digital publication of an edition of Hoccleve’s holograph poems, we are beginning to ask questions about how to transform our XML into an HTML display. Thus, we are embarking on a graph design/display phase of our work. One of the things we have been discussing is creating data visualizations of the poems as an ornament to the edition. Most likely, these will be simple. Word clouds for instance. I have been asked to explore some options for this. This is not something that I have done before, but it is something that I have been curious about as a tool for my own work. Because the plain text versions of the poems weren’t quite ready, I decided to take a little time to begin explore what might be possible, from a historical perspective, with data visualization tools. I also figured it would make an interesting first blog post of the semester, even if at this point my foray into data visualization and data mining is completely amateurish. Even so, I am reporting on some early experiments using Voyant, a free web-based tool for textual analysis. I want to to see how it worked with early modern texts and with some of the documents I am using for my dissertation. This post is also offered in the spirit of a simple review of the software. My dissertation is a study of relations of power between the English and Native Americans in colonial … Continue reading

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Information Design or Visualizing Information

  October 2, 2014 ,

Often we present statistical data not as exclusively the numbers themselves, but as a visualization of those numbers—as charts or graphs or tables or even pictures—giving the reader or viewer a better way to understand the meaning or impact of the information.  The goal in visualization of data is clarity of meaning, though it takes awareness and care not to distort or obscure the information.  Of course, as viewers and users of graphical representations, we also need to curb our natural impulse to find charts, graphs, and elaborate visualizations to be convincing just because of their form.  But, regardless of the potential drawbacks, visualizations can be excellent communication tools, and there are many great examples; here I share two from the nineteenth century that can still inform us today and give us ideas for our new digital tools. One famous 19th century example is the map John Snow created to show the pattern of deaths in a London cholera epidemic.  He discovered that largest number of deaths were of people drinking from a certain well on Broad Street and correctly confirmed that the disease was spread through water.  For more information about the cholera outbreak and Snow’s work see the article where I got the above information. Here’s his map, the visualization of the complicated problem he was trying to solve. “Snow-cholera-map-1” by John Snow. Published by C.F. Cheffins, Lith, Southhampton Buildings, London, England, 1854 in Snow, John. On the Mode of Communication of Cholera, 2nd Ed, John Churchill, New … Continue reading

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3D Reconstruction of 81 Decatur Street Project

  October 2, 2014 , , ,

Hey Guys! Just wanted to talk a little this week about the project some of the SIFs and I are working on! It’s been a rough week due to a stagnant cold that’s been ailing me, but we’ve managed to accumulate a lot of good data to throw at this project. What is it you ask? Well–every time you happen to walk by Classroom South on Decatur St, there is actually a rich history swept underneath the building that now stands there, namely 81 Theatre. It started as a Vaudeville stage and slowly evolved into a popular African American theatre in the 30s onward. The street was bustling with activity–pool halls, barber shops, clubs…it was an extension of the Auburn Avenue community’s spark. So our team wants to rebuild this block of Decatur St as an interactive environment–a game of sorts. If you’ve been reading my blog up until this point, you’ll know how into gamifying experiences I am. By adding a layer of engaging interactivity to this historical environment–we hope to promote education through engaging experiences that reflect what the different departments we represent do best: English and Literature, Anthropology, Geography, and Computer Science. It’s one thing to build a historically accurate 3D environment through maps and computing–it’s another thing entirely to fill it with narrative and meaningful culture that grabs attention and keeps it engaged. Can someone interact with this small microcosm and leave that interaction knowing more about the past than they realize? It’s hard to say, … Continue reading

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1930’s Blues at the Library?

  September 11, 2014

When confronted with the view of Atlanta’s skyline I can’t help but note the differences in the structure, it includes everything from the incredibly old and beautiful to the modern, chic buildings. Although not all buildings are to each of these extremes neither are they all beautiful or interesting ( let’s be honest) but they do share a similar qualities. These buildings all serve a purpose, share a history/story of their existence, and contribute to the culture that is Atlanta. Why bring up such obvious inquiries, you may ask. It is because as human beings we become so accustomed to seeing the same things and eventually taking our scenery or surroundings for granted. We do not realize that the streets and roads we may walk or travel on every day have been there long before we have. They have been there collecting stories of the people before us and eventually after us. Although this may seem irrelevant to those of us who are here in Atlanta to attend Georgia State University and earn our degrees, it is very much applicable to our everyday travels around campus. When conversing with my fellow SIFs about what project to bring to life this semester, we began to discuss the findings of old maps and historical evidence of our beloved centrally located Georgia State campus. We came to discuss that the block of Decatur st. and Peachtree center Ave. has a historical significance connected with the famous 1930’s blues scene in Atlanta. This block … Continue reading