Document Type

Presentation

Publication Date

9-20-2024

Abstract

In 2023 the Virtual Learning Librarian at the University of North Florida’s (UNF) Thomas G. Carpenter Library approached the Head of Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) with the idea to create a virtual reality (VR) experience using one of SCUA’s most accessed special collections: the Eartha M. M. White Collection. She was inspired by several existing VR experiences such as The Book of Distance and The People’s House: Inside the White House with Barack and Michelle Obama. She was also stimulated by the challenge set by the Head of SCUA to figure out a collaborative project with Special Collections.

The Eartha M. M. White Collection, a cornerstone of SCUA, documents an African American community in Jacksonville for almost 100 years: from the 1870s to the 1970s. Since its donation in 1975, the Eartha M. M. White Collection has been one of the most accessed collections by students, faculty, and outside researchers. Eartha M. M. White was a prominent resident of Jacksonville known for her humanitarian and philanthropic accomplishments in Northeast Florida.

The ensuing collaborative project, which partnered UNF’s Virtual Learning Center (VLC), SCUA, UNF’s School of Computing, and the Eartha M. M. White Museum in downtown Jacksonville, brought Ms. White to life through a virtual reality experience. The panel including the Head of SCUA, the Virtual Learning Librarian, and an Assistant Professor in the UNF School of Computing will discuss how they teamed up with the Special Collections Coordinator, staff from the Eartha M. M. White Museum, and students to create the Eartha M. M. White VR Experience.

Funded by a NEFLIN Innovation Grant, the team acquired a Matterport Pro3 LiDAR camera to scan the physical Eartha M. M. White Museum space, including Eartha White’s office and living quarters; with these scans and 360-degree photos, the team planned to create a virtual experience that people from around the world can view. The physical space of the museum had many reflective surfaces which caused the 3D models generated from the LiDAR scans to be very noisy, so they were not appropriate for the VR experience; however, the 360-degree pictures from the camera were well-suited to visually display the environment. Using the Unity3D engine, the 360-degree images were logically connected such that the viewer could choose their own viewpoint and inspect various stimuli in the museum’s rooms, through a simple point-and-click teleportation metaphor using a VR controller. Part of the discussion will cover challenges and future opportunities surrounding how the project was organized and share outcomes from the experience.

The Eartha M. M. White VR Experience was completed in the fall of 2023 and opened the gates for new ideas and partnerships for the Virtual Learning Librarian. Several new projects are being considered or are under development that involve documenting and preserving local culture.

The recently completed Wetland Walk VR: Field Ecology in Northeast Florida was created by a UNF English Assistant Professor and funded by a UNF Institute of Environmental Research and Education grant. It allows the viewer to join UNF Field Ecologists monitoring the water in swamps and marshes in Northeast Florida. Since the areas visited are more dangerous than most people would normally go, the VR experience provides an alternate way for the viewer to learn about and connect with that environment.

One of the new projects under development is an augmented reality (AR) experience called The Jazz Experience. Highlighting a series of photographs of Jazz musicians on the UNF Carpenter Library’s third floor, the augmented portraits will feature their music and narration with more information about the artists. The AR experience will be accessible using cell phones or tablets. There will also be content in video format, shown as an overlay that emerges when using a Web-based application, currently being developed by an Assistant Professor in the UNF School of Computing. UNF library faculty are participating by narrating the audio content.

The library is also in the early stages of adapting a current project created by the UNF Director of Africana Studies and an Instructor in the English Department. Water Stories: A River Harvest will preserve the history and culture of Jacksonville’s Ribault River/Moncrief Creek corridor in a Mixed Reality experience using both AR and VR.

As UNF was built on the unceded lands of the Timucua, a new project being explored is a VR Timucua Language Experience that could be expanded to explore the Indigenous history of Northeast Florida.

The panel will be sharing our learning curve and experiences in creating these projects. Each member brings a different skillset to the projects and has different outcomes to share.

Comments

Presented at the Florida Digital Humanities Consortium (FLDH) 2024 Conference at the University of Central Florida, Orlando, United States on 09/20/2024.

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