The I-CAVE, short for Integrated Computer Augmented Virtual Environment<\/a>, is a new facility composed of five 9-by-5 foot, high-resolution screens arranged in a hexagonal pattern. Visitors are given goggles and a remote control to navigate a virtual world.\u00a0The\u00a0first project to be featured is Shakespeare\u2019s London circa 1598, which will kickoff a series of campus events celebrating\u00a0the Folger Shakespeare Library\u2019s national traveling exhibition\u00a0First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare\u00a0<\/em>presented at the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum<\/a>. The First Folio exhibit opens Feb. 2.<\/p>\n \u201cThe goal of the project is to recreate the experience of what it must have been like to see a play in Shakespeare\u2019s era,\u201d says David Frisch, the project manager and a graduate student in English Literature<\/a>.<\/p>\n Many students may assume that watching a play in Shakespeare\u2019s time was an aristocratic, high-brow, quiet activity but\u00a0Frisch says, Bankside \u2013 a southern area of London in which the Globe Theater was located\u2013 was a lot like today\u2019s Las Vegas.\u00a0\u201cIt was loud. It could get rowdy and crazy, and people would throw tomatoes at performers during plays.\u201d<\/p>\n Although the team took creative liberty re-imagining Bankside, Chairperson of\u00a0the English Department<\/a>\u00a0James Sutton<\/a> says there are many historical points.\u00a0The location of the theater, which was burned down in 1613 and later rebuilt\u00a0across the Thames River, is accurate to the original site.<\/p>\n For a touch of authenticity, the students also decided their cast of characters \u2013including a\u00a0Spanish merchant, vagabond, prostitute and \u201csnobbish English man\u201d \u2013 would\u00a0consist of\u00a02D cut-outs taken from early modern works of art.<\/p>\n Frisch says he hopes the project informs, educates and makes accessible Shakespeare to people who use\u00a0the I-CAVE, particularly Florida high school, middle school and even elementary students who will be visiting campus to learn about Shakespeare.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the perfect balance to see the First Folio and the gallery and then have them [the students] in this immersive environment,\u201d Sutton says.<\/p>\n He adds: \u201cIt\u2019s great to see FIU students from all kinds of disciplines from the sciences to the arts mess with technology and come up with this mind-blowing thing.\u201d<\/p>\n How it works Once an environment is designed, it is input into Unity, the 3D animation program compatible with the I-CAVE. A main user wears virtual reality goggles and navigates the environment with a remote control;\u00a0three others can tag along and see everything, but only the main user\u2019s glasses have motion sensors that react to\u00a0his or her\u00a0body movements in real time\u00a0using\u00a0four cameras.<\/p>\n I-CAVE Co-Director Shahin Vassigh, associate dean of faculty development at the College of Architecture + The Arts (CARTA)<\/a>, says the new facility is an incredible\u00a0teaching environment. \u201cYou can make a 3D model of anything. There is nothing like this in South Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n For example, researchers, scientists and programmers could design a model of a molecule and create settings that let users zoom into parts of the molecule, access audio that explains information and other instructional material that enhances the learning experience.<\/p>\n Both faculty and students can request to use\u00a0the I-CAVE for class trips and projects. Graduate students, in particular, can conduct research using the interactive technology.<\/p>\n Shu-Ching Chen, co-director of the I-CAVE and professor of School of Computing and Information Sciences (SCIS)<\/a>, hopes to bring a previous project to the I-CAVE screens.\u00a0A\u00a0few years ago, he\u00a0used data provided by NOAA to create\u00a03D animation videos of real-life hurricane storm surges in Tampa, Key Biscayne and Miami Beach. The videos were\u00a0used by\u00a0the\u00a0National Weather Service Tampa Bay Area Office at several public outreach events.<\/p>\n Starting in February, the I-CAVE \u2013 maintained and run by\u00a0 CARTA and SCIS and funded by the FIU Tech Fee grant \u2013 will be open to the public for 10 hours per week (times will be posted on the I-CAVE website<\/a>) in\u00a0ECS, room 268.<\/p>\n The Globe Experience project will run through Feb. 29.<\/p>\n First Folio at FIU sponsors include the College of Architecture + The Arts, College of Arts, Sciences & Education, FIU Foundation, Inc., Office of the President, Office of the Provost, Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs, Margarita P. Mui\u00f1a, J.D., L.L.M., The Betsy-South Beach, Miami City Social, and British American Business Council Miami. Sponsorship opportunities are available to support this exhibition\u2019s\u00a0only appearance in Florida. Learn more at\u00a0folio.fiu.edu<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"23849824809_9ea2d8b3a0_k\"](\"http:\/\/news.fiu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/23849824809_9ea2d8b3a0_k.jpg\")
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<\/a>A team of Architecture students, including David Pinto and Cristian Garcia, created 3D models of 1598 Bankside. They\u00a0researched historical drawings and anatomy models for inspiration.\u00a0Then, computer science students Jose Maldonado and Leonardo Guibert\u00a0programmed the interactions that occur between the environment and the user, bringing\u00a0the 3D models to life and adding color and\u00a0texture\u00a0to the environment.\u00a0Theater students gave voice to the characters.<\/p>\n![\"PicMonkey](\"http:\/\/news.fiu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/PicMonkey-Collage12.jpg\")
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