Photosynth screen capture showing the Asian Gallery at the IMA

As you read on, you’ll probably discover that I had way too much fun with this tool, and I hope you will as well.

I tried three separate experiments.

#1: Staged Photography

First, I asked Mike Rippy, from our photography department, to shoot a variety of overview and detail shots of a portion of our Asian Galleries.  These images all have consistent lighting and were shot using a tripod, so they are extremely sharp.  The image above shows a case of works, and the faint white box is indicating that a more detailed image was shot at that point.  Photosynth does the best it can to “automagically” stitch together photographs of the same region even if they were shot at different angles.  For the most part it did an amazing job.

Zoom Detail Example

In the image above I am showing two captures of the same view in Photosynth.  On the left half you see the overview of a hanging scroll.  As you zoom in with your mousewheel, more and more detail comes to life as seen the in right half.  This ability to see pristine detail on works of art is very seldom seen.

Automatic Object VR

Another reason I see this tool as taking panoramic tools to the next level is its automatic object vr detection.  When taking pictures of a 3D work from multiple angles, Photosynth displays the “donut” control above.  You can grab and turn the object, and new images page in and out to give the feeling that you are spinning the work in space.

#2: The Mob

As a second test I asked a group of people to help me raid the European Galleries.  About a dozen people took 30 minutes to shoot over 1400 images of the space.  The point of this test was to see if Photosynth could handle photographs from a wide variety of cameras.  They ranged from your $100 point-and-shoot to your $1000 digital SLR.  For the most part it handled the task fairly well.  The final product, which I link to below, consisted of about half of the images due to the large amount of time it took to create.

#3: Nature

Finally I shot a more traditional panorama in the 100 Acres.  Photosynth did a really good job stitching these photos together as well.  I thought the complexity of nature might pose a difficult task.

100 Acres: The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park

The Results:

You can see all three of the Photosynth’s I created at these links:

• Asian Galleries
• European Gallery
• 100 Acres

Did I mention they are embeddable?

Student using Global Origins

If you find yourself wandering through the Asian Art Galleries here at the IMA, take a quiet moment to follow the sounds of the Qin music. You will be led to a giant LCD display with a touch panel overlay and a hair dryer-esque sound dome above your head. Global Origins represents one of the first applications developed in-house by the IMA and marks a pivotal point in how the museum approaches technology.

I’ll step back a moment now and introduce myself. My name is Charlie Moad and I am an Applications Developer (a.k.a software developer) here at the museum. Now before you conjure up thoughts of suspenders and lisps, let me assure you I am quite the contrary. I have never played Dungeons and Dragons and I was only addicted to World of Warcraft for 6 months! I started at the museum 2 years ago and we have since hired another software developer and a graphics designer. Together we form what we call, the Applications Team. Traditionally museums outsource their technology which can be very expensive and time consuming. Each project requires bringing a new consultant up to speed on the basic operations of the institution. We allow the museum to retain knowledge and be more flexible when approaching technology.

Now back to Global Origins (GO). GO is an add-on to the NASA developed 3D world viewer, World Wind. Visitors are presented with a spinning globe and a series of stamps with works of art on them. Touching a stamp spins and zooms the globe to the respective origin and provides more information on the work and the culture. The application is meant to provide users with a visual orientation of where some of these works originated.

Global Origins using World Wind by NASA

We have been secretly collecting stats on this application since it was placed in the galleries almost two years ago. I pulled these stats a few days ago and found some impressive numbers. From October, 17^th 2006 to August, 28^th 2008 we have recorded 372,366 individual touches of the display. This averages almost 550 clicks per day with single day totals peaking over 3000. The graphic below represents where on the screen people have been clicking. The “hot spots” are in the expected places with one exception. People have a tendency to touch in the middle of the screen where the red and white target is located once a work is selected. While touching these targets has no effect, it definitely indicates the user wants more information about these geographic locations.

Click Heat overlay of Global Origins

Now let’s take a look at what works of art the users are interested in.  Below is a table which contains the 11 works that appear in GO.  Following that table is a chart containing the number of times a work has been selected by a visitor.  The spread seems fairly even except for two standouts.  It’s somewhat refreshing to see that the bright woodblock print of Mt. Fuji has a slight lead, and I suspect that the shar pei dog came in a strong number two because people like pictures of funny animals.

woman’s ceremonial skirt (33.682)	ritual wine server (guang) (60.43)
vase (maebyeong) (2001.223)	head of Buddha (1994.1)
Buddha of the Future (1995.1)	bull-shaped vessel (75.301)
seated shar pei dog (1999.2)	Fine Wind, Clear Morning (60.12)
storage jar (81.378)	Ichikawa Kakitsu as Ishidome Busuke and Arashi Kichirodku as Sagihira (72.47.271)
vase with dragon and cloud design (60.82)

Number of Views by Work

This post will be followed by similar ones that offer the outsider a peek into the technology operations of the IMA.  There is a common theme that allows us to be productive.  Open source software allows us to create a wide array of applications varying from the in-gallery interactive mentioned above to the blog you are reading right now.

It’s been a good year so far. I celebrated my “golden birthday” this year when I turned 28 on March 28th, which supposedly brings luck (I can’t complain.) Many of my girlfriends’ male counterparts have turned 30 this year (mine included) which means lots of parties and duh, birthday cake. Another highlight of 2008? Obviously the release of the Sex and the City movie. I have inadvertently begun asking myself questions a’ la Carrie Bradshaw. What does it all mean? When it comes to time, is it really on our side? (Gazing out my imaginary NYC apartment window with my tank top and “Amber” necklace…)

Henry David Thoreau said, “It’s not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is, what are we busy about?” Well here at the IMA there is plenty to be busy about. Anniversaries, openings, and celebrations abound in 2008 and well into the figurative afterlife.

First, the Alliance is celebrating her 50th Anniversary. When Dwight asked Jim if he’d like to form an Alliance, Jim said “Absolutely, I do.”

Let me tell you about the IMA’s Alliance, which is a little different. The IMA is greatly supported by five Affiliate organizations and the volunteers. The Affiliates are support groups and collectors clubs that have varied interests ranging from Contemporary, Asian, Design, and Horticulture.

Then there is the Alliance, a group of over 300 women who have dedicated themselves to the museum for half a century. As with all of the affiliate groups, I’m their liaison to the museum – any and all things they need go through me. I love my job, primarily because I meet and work with literally hundreds of people who love and support the museum as much as I do. Perhaps none are more passionate than the ladies of the Alliance.

Jane Graham, Senior Editor, is writing a complete history of the Alliance that will be published in September. She has discovered all kinds of interesting facts in looking back over time. “I really have enjoyed the research—the Alliance kept such good records over the years. They were very meticulous about everything. I was able to finds lots of information that I thought would be interesting to the members.” Early day scrapbooking at it’s finest.

Beginning with the founder Jo Jameson, the story will be told about the Alliance’s successes and how they have always helped the museum through money, members and ever-changing images, and have served as ambassadors of the museum throughout the city and beyond.

The IMA is celebrating her 125th year this year, from its beginnings as the Art Association of Indianapolis in 1883. Another publication is being written called Every Way Possible: 125 Years of the Indianapolis Museum of Art and highlights the founders, donors, collectors, directors, curators and others who were key to its development over 125 years. Major art acquisitions and collections are also featured. On October 11th there will be a grand soiree fundraiser under a clear top tent that is sure to be talk of the town for years to come.

Egyptians believed that “death was an enemy that could be beaten through proper preparation.”

But I wonder, maybe the Egyptians thought there just wasn’t enough time in this life, which is why they continued the party on into the afterlife? And if the mummies of those times were anything like the mummies coming to rock the IMA on July 11th for the opening of To Live Forever, then maybe they were onto something.

Pink Floyd assures me “You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today.” So eat the birthday cakes and toast the anniversaries, cause life is just to short and there’s just never enough time.