-
3-D and Virtual Reality
3-D printers, digital cameras, specialized software, and VR headsets are used to model and experience architectural spaces and physical objects as requested by professors and students. Pieces can be downloaded, printed in full color, and shared from the Sketchfab site. Students who have contributed to these projects include: Daniel Olivieri (’17), Clara Pinchbeck (’18), Conner McEldowney (’19), Rosa Rumora (’19), Claire Koelling (’19), Amelia Mott (’21), Henry Allan (’23), Cherantha De Silva (’23), and Samyak Shrestha (’25).
Virtual Reality (VR)
Starting with funding from Ohio Five CODEX Summer Institute, “A Walk Through and Old Church: Projecting 3D Architecture” to fund learning 3-D projection for the classroom in 2021, Sarah Blick, Jenna Nolt (LBIS), and students, Henry Allan (’23), Cherantha De Silva (’23), worked on issues of how to project three-dimensional images in the classroom. Currently, the focus has been on using headsets to allow students to see and travel through a wide variety of historical architectural sites. Cherantha De Silva (’23) has been conducting a study of student experience with the headsets to create safety codes for using the equipment and how to avoid motion sickness. Our plan is to ultimately project images that an entire class can see at the same time without headsets, but in the meantime, the VRC and Art History is actively developing class projects that involve VR and deeper student understanding of three-dimensional space.
3-D Printing and Modelling
Art History was the pioneer regarding 3-D printing at Kenyon, purchasing and experimenting with the first 3-D printer on campus in 2013. Since then, the VRC has employed and trained many students in the technology, regularly updating the printers. These students have printed versions of famous artworks as well as pieces from the Blick-Harris Study Collection. These models have been used in a variety of classes in Art History, Classics, and beyond. Currently Henry Allan (’23) and Samyak Shrestha (’25) have founded a 3-D/VR Club and have have been utilizing the 3-D software (Blender) and printers to help teach students and faculty about 3-D modeling and design.
Sketchfab
Banner Image: Virtual model of the Sculpture of St. Peter of Verona in the Blick-Harris Study Collection, 2015.175. https://digital.kenyon.edu/arthistorystudycollection/223/. Photogrammetric model by Clara Pinchbeck (’18) and Conner McEldowney (’19). https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/sculpture-of-a-saint-75684e1baeec45d3a5510b97e985af03