University of Miami art history students have access to an augmented reality (AR) application to explore Colonial Spanish paintings and architecture, thanks to a collaboration between IDSC and the College of Arts and Sciences. Read more “Nuestra Señora de la Merced”
The shifting sands on the floor inside the Western Hemisphere’s oldest continuously operating synagogue Mikvé Israel-Emanuel in Willemstad, Curaçao posed some unique challenges to students and researchers. Read more “Mikvé Israel Emanuel Synagogue”
More than half the current global population lives in cities. United Nations projections estimate that this number will rise to 70 percent by 2050. About 32% of this current urban population—1 billion people—reside in an urban geography that is often literally off the map, illegal, and generally beyond the reach of government services and infrastructure. In an ongoing collaboration between the IDSC and the School of Architecture, our software engineers are experimenting with tools and techniques for documenting urban informal settlements that will provide a lower barrier of entry to others interested in engaging in similar projects. These tools include software for advanced image analysis and mapping using hand-held mobile devices, as well as autonomous aerial vehicles (aka drones), that allow for a level of detail, ease of use and frequency of observation currently not readily available (at reasonable cost) to these communities.
ORTHOPHOTO: Las Flores Informal Settlement, Barranquilla Colombia
“With Pencils and Drones, Architects Put Informal Cities on the Map“ by Robert C. Jones | eVeritas, January 9, 2017
A project to produce a common codebase from which we can draw to develop geospatial applications for smart cities and other applications. Also, a general purpose web-based application. The Vistapolis web-based application is currently under development and will be released soon. Vistapolis code is being used in the development of several current projects, including the planned restoration of The Residency on Harbour Island, Bahamas.
Java, AngularJS (MEAN), leaflet, Apache Solr, PostGIS
The 26-story tower of the historic Biltmore Hotel rises majestically into the sky over Coral Gables. Visible for miles, it’s an icon, a landmark on the National Historic Register, and a lush and ornate example of classic Spanish colonial influences in Mediterranean Revival architectural style. Ninety years after its grand opening, it is being born again in virtual 3D, thanks to an innovative use of drones and revolutionary developments in mapping technologies created at CCS. The project is the brainchild of UM Department of Art and Art History Prof. Karen R. Mathews (a CCS Member), involving a collaboration between UM faculty and students across a variety of disciplines, the City of Coral Gables, and historically-minded members of the community.
The project began in the Spring 2016 semester with a detailed analysis of three historic 1920s buildings: ”I wanted buildings that had rich architectural detail—sculpture, three-dimensional ornamentation—so that we could see how effective our 3-D modeling technologies would be in capturing a complex architectural exterior and facade,” Prof. Mathews said.
Then came the wizardry of the Software Engineering team from CCS with a mix of standard digital photography and picture-taking drones flying in precisely regimented patterns creating thousands upon thousands of high-quality photos that are brought together through the technique of photogrammetry to form a mesh known as a point cloud.
”The virtue of the cloud is that one can experience this building as a three-dimensional model by animating it, moving it, circulating around it, spinning it on its axis,” Prof. Mathews said. ”From my perspective as an architectural historian, it has to be able to zoom in and get incredibly detailed images of architectural detail—of ornamentation, of decorative sculpture, of figurative sculpture. And that’s what this technique really has allowed us to do.” The team added three additional buildings for the fall semester. Eventually, she hopes to create a web-based experience that allows users to interact with the map and view and learn about the buildings through photographs, videos, and the 3D models. She also foresees an app-based approach that could offer on-site audio tours during real-world visits to the structures.
SOURCE: ”A Recreation of the Real World” by Carlos Harrison | UM eNews 1/10/2017
Project Description + More Photos: “3D Modeling in the Urban Classroom: Using Photogrammetry for the Study of Historic Architecture in Coral Gables, Florida“, The Journal of Interactive Technology & Pedagogy, 2/21/2018