Ball State’s IDIA Lab Uses Digital Tools to Bring Muncie’s Past into the Present

Ball State University News

Recent projects from Ball State University’s Institute for Digital Intermedia Arts (IDIA) Lab are creating new ways to explore Muncie’s past—reflecting IDIA Lab’s ongoing use of digital technology to make local history more accessible to researchers, students, and the community.

During ArtsWalk on Oct. 1, visitors to downtown Muncie can experience one of those projects through Echoes of Muncie, an augmented reality experience featuring five historic buildings as they once appeared.

The experience allows users to view 3D digital reconstructions of the Wysor Grand Opera House, the historic Wysor Building, the old Delaware County Courthouse, and other structures at their former downtown locations via a smartphone app.

“Technology gives us new ways to engage with history,” said John Fillwalk, senior director of the IDIA Lab. “Whether we’re using augmented reality to reconstruct buildings that have disappeared from the landscape or digitally preserving access to records that tell us about the people who lived here, we are helping people see their community and their connection to it in a new way.”

Read more at Ball State University News.