Midwest Alive Online Encyclopedia

Student:
Samantha Steele, Department of Design

Faculty:
Maria Palazzi, Dept. of Design/ACCAD
Dr. Christian Zacher, Dept. of English
Dr. Richard Sisson, Dept. Of Political Science

Samantha Steele developed a visual piece for the midwest online encyclopedia.

Project: In collaboration with the Institute for Public Humanities and Collaborative Research at Ohio State and the Midwest Encyclopedia project, this prototype investigated the design of interactive, virtual modules of information. The project included developing three-dimensional computer-generated animation, interactive virtual environments and moving maps that described Midwest development events that took place over time. The moving map demonstrated the path of early roads in Ohio and how those influenced the movement westward. The map was based around an interactive timeline so the viewer knows where and when the events was taking place and also so the user could navigate to different areas of the project.

The second part of the project was developing landscapes of a specific point on the 2-D map, Zane's Trace near Zanesville, Ohio. The landscapes depicted the evolution of the land, roads and vegetation starting in the 1700s through modern times.

Completion Date: March 2003.