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Michael J. Griffin, University of Oxford (michael.griffin@oriel.ox.ac.uk)
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Cyprien Lomas, University of Br itish Columbia / ELI (cyprien.lomas@ubc.ca)
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Our roadmap:
The Ancient Spaces Project
1) building buildings…
evolution
2) Open Source Antiquities
3) next steps?
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I
Learn about ancient architecture
by stepping into the shoes of the architect
2004-2005
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January, 2004
•Initial proposal by three students at UBC
• Create an networked 3D ‘Acropolis of Athens’
• All content developed by students as a learning method
• To be improved by each year’s class for the next
generation
Funded by UBC Arts Instructional Support and
Information Technology and supported by the
Department of Classical, Near Eastern, and Religious Studies
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The Acropolis of Athens, c. 430-330 BCE
Map and Plan
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Ancient Spaces preliminary modeling: The Parthenon
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February, 2004
• Putting preliminary content ‘in-game’ for multiple players
• Technology chosen: mod of Epic’s ‘Unreal’ platform
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February-April, 2004 Content completed and imported into Unreal
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February-April, 2004 Content completed and imported into Unreal
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April-June, 2004
•Demonstration to Department of Classics
•June presentation by students at the NMC conference
• Successes. Three students deeply engaged with a learning
project for their peers.
• Criticisms. Faculty expressed concern about the accuracy
of student-created (and imperfect) models for teaching.
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Next steps: Summer, 2004
•UBC TLEF funding awarded
• fully tested in a class (Classical Studies 100).
• The 3D models would be accompanied by a written argument
defending their reconstructions from academic plans.
• Concerns about accuracy addressed by three-tier process.
•Actual modeling would be done by undergraduates & vetted by
faculty before ‘publication’
•Grad students are intermediaries between technology &
academics.
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September, 2004
•Twenty-five 3D-ready computers upgraded in Faculty of Arts
•Arts ISIT Lab assigned to Classical Studies
•Unreal 2004 installed on all machines
•One graduate TA and Ancient Spaces founder
assigned to handle the volunteer class
•Library resources assembled for undergraduates
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New challenge:
Twenty-five students needing technology education
(without CLST 100 turning into a technology class), and
no previous archaeological experience, would create a
learning environment for their peers
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The Agora of Athens, c. 430-330 BCE
Map and Plan
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September 2004-January 2005 Content created in UnrealEd
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September 2004-January 2005 Content created in UnrealEd
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•Fifteen structures modeled by twenty-five first-year students
•Academic accuracy vetted by graduate students in
collaboration with academic supervisors
•Results published on www.ancientspaces.com and made
publicly available.
• Results on the archaeology section of the examination
were quantitatively improved.
•sense of ‘camaraderie’ that came from a student-directed
project.
• several students from the project came forward to help
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direct Ancient Spaces in 2005.
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II
Antiquity Comes Alive
2005-2006
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August, 2005
Expanding the project: new goals
• Creative learning. Content will continue to be developed
by students at participating institutions democratically,
employing an ‘open-source’ approach to collaboration.
• Additive. Each year’s creation will become a learning
environment for the next generation.
• Accuracy. To continue to ensure academic accuracy, all
content will also be vetted by an online ‘anonymous peer
review’ process (thus circumventing the ‘Wikipedia issue’).
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August, 2005
Expanding the project: new goals
• Original research. New archaeological
excavations will be ‘published’ on Ancient Spaces,
representing a new means of getting academic
content beyond the academy:
• Popular gaming. Student-created content will
become the content of a massively multiplayer
game focused on ancient cultures and designed for
the public.
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August, 2005
Expanding the project
• Ancient Spaces will expand to include Egypt and First
Nations cultures.
• The MMORPG is intended to become a true community
‘game’, teaching by cultural immersion rather than
‘piggybacking’ pedagogy on popularity.
• A library of geometrical ‘building blocks’ is provided by
professional 3D artists. Students draw on this library to
reconstruct entire structures and scenes.
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August, 2005
New Technology
• Beginning in June 2006, Ancient Spaces will rely upon an
open-source 3D client and editor based on OGRE 3D. This
client will allow for in-game editing by students, and will
improve considerably on real-time model rendering.
• Publication of content online will be accomplished using
Pachyderm, in collaboration with Arts ISIT at UBC.
• The website will be a persistent repository of editable and
consistently improving 3D content, allowing for the peerreview process with participating academics.
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Ancient Spaces new models: Open Source?
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Ancient Spaces new models: Egypt and Rome
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Ancient Spaces new models: Egypt and Rome
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Ancient Spaces new models: Egypt and Rome
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Ancient Spaces new models: Evolution of the Parthenon
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Ancient Spaces new models: Evolution of the Parthenon
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Ancient Spaces new models: Evolution of the Parthenon
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Ancient Spaces new models: Evolution of the Parthenon
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III
Principles and Broader Applications
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General Principles
Undergraduate students learn by creating
Each class’s creations are designed
as learning environments for the next generation
Academic fidelity is encouraged
through an anonymous ‘peer review’ process
Final content is delivered in a popular form
as a new means of providing academic content
to the public
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General Principles
Rich fluid environment
Interactions at appropriate level of engagement
Social
Owned
Build your Own
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General Principles (cont’d.)
Three-tiered approach
•Faculty
•Graduate Students
•Undergraduate Students
Graduate students mediate between members of faculty
and undergraduates, working to ensure the practical value of
this approach in everyday teaching.
Classes complemented through Ancient Spaces do not
become ‘technology’ classes requiring additional ‘know-how’ on
the part of the faculty or students
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Applicability
Transferable Lessons?
Construction
Student input
Complex modeling
Appropriate engagement
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Applicability
Sciences
Students modeling the worlds of the ‘very large’
and the ‘very small’
Complex modeling of economic and social systems
Mathematics
(For peers and for non-specialists)
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Applicability
Interdisciplinarity: Sciences and the Humanities
Imago mundi:
The evolution of cosmology from antiquity to the modern day:
Common problems and approaches in science, philosophy, and
mythology from Egypt to Einstein
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Applicability
Interdisciplinarity: Sciences and the Humanities
Imago mundi:
•Building Blocks
•Release and share
•Share early share often
•Peer Review
•Standards
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Applicability
Interdisciplinarity: Sciences and the Humanities
Imago mundi:
•Building a framework for simulations
• the philosophy of the tools…
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Applicability
Interdisciplinarity: Sciences and the Humanities
Imago mundi:
•Fit into existing practices…
•Work with existing academic cultures
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www.ancientspaces.com
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www.ancientspaces.com
landfood.jot.com/ancientspaces/
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