This week’s topic of 3D modeling brought me back to my late elementary school days when I would play computer games like Roller Coaster Tycoon, which allowed you to build and maintain an amusement park. It’s funny to think that that game is my go to example when thinking about 3D modeling, but at the time the franchise started to take off back in 1999, it seems like it was a relatively untapped subject. The nostalgia that the sheer title of this week’s topic brought got me excited to dive into the readings.
Something that quickly stood out to me was how Diane Favro noted how “researchers experimenting with new technologies” create simulations. Her piece “Meaning in Motion. A Personal Walk Through Historial Simulation Modeling at UCLA,” provided a brief history of the evolution of 3D modeling at UCLA, with an emphasis on its role in a roman architecture project. It’s awesome to see that with today’s technology we have the ability to recreate intricate, anicent architecture. I was really intrigued by the points she made, and coupled with the positive reviews of her courses by other students, I may have to take one her classes before graduating.
Straying a bit from the topic, I wanted to point out how the concept of 3D printing has always fascinated me, so I decided to do a little background research on it. The SparkNotes version is that through additive processes, successive layers of materials are laid down under computer control. Objects of any shape can be created, and are produced from a 3D model or some other electronic source.
Last year I took an Egyptian religion class with Professor Dieleman, which I really enjoyed and would recommend to anyone trying to knock out that elusive Philosophical + Linguistic Analysis general education requirement. During one of the classes we looked an interactive, online Egyptian model of the ancient Karnak, which virtually allowed the user to walk around in a first person mode. Even though I found the readings very informative and interesting, being able to use this interactive model as an additional learning tool was definitely a welcomed change of pace. This week’s readings have made it apparent how crucial 3D models are in the field of digital humanities, and it’s definitely exciting to follow where it will progress. I haven’t thought too much about 3D modeling in respect to our group project, but it has the potential to be a solid addition if we can figure out how to purposefully implement it.