Category: Innovative Technology

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Images on the Web Innovative Technology

Changes to Google’s Image Search

If you’ve tried a Google image search over the past week, you might have noticed some changes. Google recently launched a “new dense tiled layout,” with larger thumbnails and the ability to scroll through up to 1,000 images on a single page. If you click on a thumbnail, you’re now brought to a “hover pane,” showing the image as it “hovers” above the original website (and thus how the image might look in its original context).

There are other less visible changes, too: more sophisticated technology powers both the “similar images” tool and “similar colors” tool. You can read more about these changes on the Official Google Blog.

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Images on the Web Innovative Technology Photography

GPS Technology Takes History to the Streets

Two new projects utilize Google Maps and historical photography to create composite views of contemporary city streets. The Museum of London‘s free mobile application, Streetmuseum, combines GPS and photographs from the museum’s collections to create an interactive visual exploration of London history.

Hold your camera up to the present day street scene and the same London location appears on your screen, offering you a window through time. Want to know more? Simply tap the information button for historical facts.

Historypin, a web-based project created by We Are What We Do in partnership with Google, pairs viewer-submitted photographs and their geographical coordinates with Google Street View, allowing for multiple snapshots of the same space throughout time. Viewers can also submit personal stories about specific places.

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Innovative Technology Modern - Contemporary

Take a Virtual Tour of Donald Judd’s Library

Donald Judd’s library houses 13,000 books spanning a range of subjects as broad as the artist’s thinking. Judd’s arrangement of the library reflects his sensitivity to geography and understanding of the development of the arts, languages and sciences across different cultures.

The Donald Judd Foundation provides a unique virtual tour through the artist’s personal library. It includes an interactive map of the space, which visitors can click to browse by shelf. A hyperlinked photograph of each shelf appears; next, visitors may click on individual books to see a brief description. Book-level records also supply links to a WorldCat database search for the material so that interested parties can find the nearest lending library for each book.

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Images on the Web Innovative Technology Photography

One Moment Captured Across the Globe

The Photography, Video and Visual Journalism blog for the New York Times, Lens, has revealed their interactive mosaic of photographs which were solicited on Sunday, May 2nd, from readers around the world. The mosaic takes shape as a globe covered with stacks of the digital photographs, corresponding in location to where they were captured at a single moment in time. The globe can be “spun” in any direction to explore various locations, and pictures can be searched by topic: community, arts and entertainment, family, money and the economy, nature and the environment, play, religion, social issues or work. Image-specific URLs are also available so that you can return to your favorite photographs again and again.

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Innovative Technology Software

TechTalk: Geospatial Tools for Humanities Research

Please join us this Thursday (4/15, 12pm, Rosenwald 405) for a lunchtime TechTalk on “Geospatial Tools for Humanities Research.”

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are powerful tools which combine current information with historical and modern maps for analytic and presentation purposes. VRC student staff member Helen-Mary Sheridan will present an overview of fundamental GIS concepts and present a range of current examples of their use in the humanities, including annotated atlases, a map for tracking geospatial components in literary collections, and (geo)spatial analyses of paintings.

Humanities Computing TechTalks are informal, brown bag style events for learning more about current technology topics relevant to the humanities. TechTalks are free and open to all university faculty, staff and students.

For a current list of future TechTalks, please goto the Humanities Division events calendar and search by sponsor “Computing.”

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Architecture Images on the Web Innovative Technology Renaissance - Baroque

QuickTime Virtual Reality: The Sistine Chapel

Now you can (virtually) tour the Sistine Chapel via your computer screen, thanks to a project from Villanova University of Pennsylvania. Created in consultation with the Vatican, this QuickTime Virtual Reality (QTVR) tour of the Sistine Chapel facilitates study of the frescoes and architecture in a new way.

“Villanova students and faculty from the University’s communication and computing science departments spent five nights in a closed Sistine Chapel, gathering images from every corner of the chapel, including Michelangelo’s famous artwork on the chapel ceiling and large fresco, The Last Judgment, on the sanctuary wall. This was the most extensive access ever granted by the Vatican to an outside group.” For more information, see the press release from Villanova University.

Categories
Architecture Innovative Technology Moving Images

JSAH Online to Include Video, Virtual Modeling and More

The Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) has developed a new platform for its online journal. The online version of the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historials (JSAH) will support video, dynamic images, virtual modeling, and digital mapping. JSAH Online will only be available to SAH members during 2010, with independent subscriptions beginning in 2011. A sample article showing some of the journal’s capabilities is currently online. See Inside Higher Ed for more information.

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Images on the Web Innovative Technology Museums

Hidden Gems at the Indianapolis Museum of Art

The Indianapolis Museum of Art‘s website includes Tag Tours, or online tours by IMA staff that provide unique and unexpected connections to the museum’s extensive collection of art. These online tours include works that are not necessarily on display in the galleries. Examples include “Happy Hour” (works of art that feature wine, beer, and other libations), “WTF” (“What’s this for?” – works of art that are thought-provoking, quirky, odd, funny and potentially, from another planet), and “Impress my Boss/Grandma/Hot Date” (works from around the world and featured in the galleries so you can “study” before your next visit to the museum). You can also add your own tags.

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Innovative Technology Software Tech Support

Manage Citations and More with Zotero

Zotero is a comprehensive citation manager for Firefox, designed to facilitate research and aid in the creation of bibliographies. It can also go beyond managing citations to help you organize all different kinds of information found on the Internet. Check out this easy-to-follow overview of Zotero from Lifehacker, and keep an eye out for training sessions offered by the University of Chicago Library by subscribing to their workshops and events calendar. There is a Zotero training session today from 2-3:30pm at Regenstein Library, Room 127.

Categories
Images on the Web Innovative Technology Medieval Modern - Contemporary Museums Renaissance - Baroque

Interactive Timeline from the British Library

Timelines: Sources from History, available on the British Library’s website, allows you to explore British Library collection items chronologically. It includes items from the medieval period to the present, and a diverse array of items from everyday life (handbills, posters, diaries) and from political events (charters, speeches, campaign leaflets).