Animation at the University of Arkansas

A wide range of research projects at the University of Arkansas involve computer generated animation in the development, research or final product showcase. These projects involve disciplines from the humanities to archeology with all portraying the use of visualization in a unique capacity.

High Accuracy/Resolution Landscape and Structure Characterization System (HARLS-CS)

The HARLS-CS is an integrated suite of instruments designed to rapidly and accurately characterize the topographic and multi-spectral properties of the surfaces of relatively small areas (e.g. 100s of square meters to 10s of hectares) and structures (such as building facades) at very high resolution (25 mm - 0.5 m). The system provides coordinated three dimensional, multispectral and metric photographic-based measurements necessary for a wide range of mensuration, classification, and quantitative characterization analyses. The system dramatically expands existing research activities in a number of disciplines and multidisciplinary areas. It serves as a shared resource in the fields of anthropology, archeology, architecture, biological and agricultural engineering, community planning/policy, entomology, geography, geology, and water resource management. It also plays a significant role in expanding research training by providing advanced undergraduates and graduate students access to critically important data as well as new capabilities for the development of valuable methodological expertise.

http://www.cast.uark.edu/cast/HARLS/

Rock Art Visualization

With a history rich in Native American heritage, Northwest Arkansas possesses one of the greatest concentrations of rock art sites in eastern North America. Rock art is a valuable archeological resource because it provides abstract depictions of how people lived and how they viewed the world around them. Rock art sites are unique in that the art itself is inextricable from the site. The images are typically painted or etched onto rock surfaces and are therefore exposed to elements of time, erosion, environmental stress, and human vandalism. This makes them among the most fragile of archaeological sites.

With a need to protect Arkansas' rock art yet still promote the cultural value of these sites, the Arkansas Archaeological Survey (AAS) teamed up with the Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies (CAST) to produce a series of site visualizations that document and explore rock art sites in Northwest Arkansas. The visualizations are a combination of 3D site models, animations, QTVR's (Quicktime Virtual Reality presentations), and digital video clips - all of which portray the sites in their current state.

http://www.cast.uark.edu/rockart/

Creating Realistic Animation Through EAST (C.R.A.T.E.)

Seeing the past through the digital eyes of the present, that's what local high school students are accomplishing today. 3D recreations are being created and implemented by high school students as part of the C.R.A.T.E. program. This program helps EAST high school students to develop animation skills through projects that benefit surrounding communities.

Community based projects are one of the key elements for all EAST projects and through various funding sources these projects can be taken to a new level. Students have the opportunity to work during the summers as interns through collaboration with EAST and CAST (providing hardware and staff support) and create digital recreations using high-end, industry standard software used by leading animation companies such as PIXAR ©.

http://www.cast.uark.edu/cast/crate/

Domus Romana

This project was assigned in Latin 3003 (Ovid) for several reasons. First, the students read the entire Metamorphoses in translation, and it seemed appropriate for them to gain some understanding of where these myths appear in Roman culture outside of literature. Many of the myths in the Metamorphoses are found in actual houses from Pompeii, often in surprising forms and combinations. Further, in designing and decorating rooms in a virtual Roman house, students could begin to imagine how they might communicate power (or a cutting-edge sense of political dissatisfaction, or even sexual ambiguity) through their decorative choices. They could also begin to imagine how performances of Ovid or other Latin poetry in a Roman dining room or bath might interact with visual depictions of myth on the walls or floors. Last but not least, this project was an attempt to expose humanities students to 2D and 3D software, drawing, and image manipulation techniques. Classics is interdisciplinary by nature, and multimedia projects should challenge boundaries between art history, literature, and social history and encourage students to think holistically about antiquity. In general, universities must teach students visual as well as verbal communication skills, and classics is a great place to begin.

http://classics.uark.edu/domus_romana/

Community Asset and Development Information System (CADIS)

The Community Asset and Development Information System (CADIS) is a project that brings together the private and public sector to create a high quality geographic information system for Northwest Arkansas . The Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies (CAST) of the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville is partnering with the National Association of Counties , Intergraph Corporation , the Bank of Fayetteville , and the Northwest Arkansas Council to provide an extensive suite of information about the region to the counties, communities and businesses of the area.

Bank of Fayetteville recreation http://www.cast.uark.edu/local/cadis/projects/2004/html/apps.html

THE SWARTKRANS GIS PROJECT
Using Geographic Information Systems to explore cave taphonomy

The Lower Pleistocene fossil site of Swartkrans has been excavated periodically since 1948 by Robert Broom and John Robinson and, most recently, by C.K. Brain. Brain's last major effort ended more than fourteen years ago. This cave site has yielded the single largest sample of the early hominid species Paranthropus robustus , and several specimens referred to as the human ancestor, Homo erectus . The final seven year period of excavation, initiated in 1979, was conducted in a meticulous fashion, and has produced an abundance of carefully recorded geological, fossil, and artifact data. More than 20,000 fossils, along with a number of bone and stone tools, were recovered from Members (strata) 1, 2, and 3 alone. The excavation was carried out largely in 10 cm elevation increments with a metal grid erected over the site to allow more accurate provenancing.

A 3D Geographic Information System (GIS) was built with data from a variety of sources: 1) a 1999 survey using a laser theodolite to record spatial coordinates for remaining geological features; 2) the digitization of CK Brain's field diagrams from the final seven years of excavation to reconstruct the original geology of the site; and 3) a relational database including information on more than 20,000 vertebrate fossils (macrofauna) and artifacts from Members 1, 2, and 3. This system allows the evaluation of artifact and fossil distributions, and the exploration of the taphonomic nature of the site taking into consideration its geological framework. It also facilitates the process of bone refitting, and contributes to the development of a protocol for similar reconstructions at other South African fossil-bearing cave sites.

http://www.cast.uark.edu/local/swartkrans3d/

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