Tag: Mudd

Hello from Project Mudd! Things have been happening, mostly behind the scenes, but we are excited to show a small snippet of what we’ve found so far. Our project will be more of a digital exhibition focusing around these questions: What is Mudd? What’s in Mudd? What does Mudd mean?

We emailed Facilities to try and get more information about the architecture of Mudd. Unfortunately, we do not have access to cad files of the building, but fortunately, we do now have access to some higher resolution pdfs

We would also like to explore some of the collections within Mudd and digitize some for online viewing. By combining testimonials with architecture with material culture, it’s our hope that we can create an accurate snapshot of what life on Carleton’s campus was like when Mudd still existed.

We’ve also begun gathering the opinions and testimonials through surveys and emails to various students, departments, and faculties.

And lastly, thinking about our final presentation and what form it will take, we’ve considered making the model explorable online using Unity’s Web plugins, creating a space where users can interact with 3D models of some of the items collected in Mudd, and another section that holds testimonials about Mudd, its culture, and its impact on the lives of the people who have worked and played there.

Brittany, Martin, and I will work to preserve and recreate the cultural history of Mudd Hall of Science before it is torn down this summer. We’re hoping to pull from our experience on the 3D Boston Massacre Project and use the Unity Engine to create a virtual narrative of Mudd with interaction points within the model that provide more detailed information. The recreation will potentially consist of:

1. 3D recreation of Mudd either using CAD files borrowed from facilities or built by hand in Sketchup from photos and floor plans.
2. Photographs from the digital archives that show how Mudd was used in years and how it has changed, and current photos of the unique aspects of the building today.
3. An AV component in the style of Ken Burns which will include some of the photographs mentioned above, and potentially testimonials from those who use Mudd
4. A guided tour through the building scripted in Twine

We can easily store all the components (images, audio, models, Unity scenes, etc.) in a simple database such as Google Drive and then publish our project via Unity Web Client.

The first step for us is to try and get a hold of the CAD files from facilities and to start looking for photographs in the Digital Archives. If we can’t get the CAD, then we will need to compile the references needed to build Mudd ourselves.