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Three dimensional knowledge visualization in the theatre studies classroom

Published: 10 September 2008 Publication History

Abstract

Education is naturally a social process, where knowledge is an experience and information is an environment. Cyberspace is able to create a new multi-participant classroom, where learners are able to compare various forms of delivery and choose one they prefer. Computer-mediated learning can greatly shift traditional modes of knowledge delivery towards a more visually-enhanced experience, which is especially important for exploring scenographic artefacts. New approaches to theatre education and research have already been established through the global use of digital communication technologies. Three dimensional (3D) modelling and navigation techniques proved very efficient in improving the understanding of communicative qualities of set design and accelerating learning. In this paper, I will introduce the first 3D reconstruction of one of the finest examples of unrealized modernist stage design -- The Divine Comedy (1921) by Norman Bel Geddes. The model is integrated within the body of the Set-SPECTRUM educational project, which was created with the intention to enable theatre students and scholars to understand and study this remarkable stage-construction using digital means of presentation This approach to knowledge visualization aims to strengthen the established approach to research, learning, and teaching, but also to transform the passive consumers of digital products into active participants. The paper concludes with a detailed discussion of the social implications of using computer-generated learning environments.

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cover image ACM Conferences
DIMEA '08: Proceedings of the 3rd international conference on Digital Interactive Media in Entertainment and Arts
September 2008
551 pages
ISBN:9781605582481
DOI:10.1145/1413634
Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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Published: 10 September 2008

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Author Tags

  1. 3-D reconstruction
  2. Bel Geddes
  3. edutainment
  4. knowledge visualization
  5. set design
  6. set-SPECTRUM
  7. theatre history

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DIMEA '08 Paper Acceptance Rate 59 of 77 submissions, 77%;
Overall Acceptance Rate 59 of 77 submissions, 77%

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