by Aidan Turowski
Daily Lobo
About 60 faculty members attended an all-day conference Friday on the ways digital media can impact education at UNM.
UNM's Art, Research, Technology and Science Laboratory sponsored the conference. The forum involved guest speakers and lab sessions on science and technology in advancing the field of education.
Ed Angel, director of ARTS Lab, said there were two goals for the conference.
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"One is for the faculty of the campus to learn about what ARTS Lab is," he said. "And the other is for the faculty to give us their ideas on what kinds of research and education programs we can help with to fill their professional goals."
The ARTS Lab was created in response to Gov. Bill Richardson's Media Industries Strategic Project, which aims at helping New Mexico become a leader in the film industry.
The New Mexico Legislature awarded UNM and the ARTS Lab a $3 million grant.
One project of ARTS Lab is the Garage, which will share space with the Center for High Performance Computing in the Galles Building on Central Avenue. The Garage will provide space for testing and researching graphics, sound and real-time immersive projection systems.
Eric Whitmore, program coordinator for ARTS Lab, said the program could mean more classes and majors at UNM.
"We found that without relating project work to courses, it makes the project much more difficult to get going," he said. "We have to create the facility, the classes, the environment that's going to give students tools, and connect them with other people that they need to create those kind of projects."
Academy Award-winning graphic designer, Ken Perlin, was the keynote speaker at the event. He spoke about computer graphics and technology in films.
"I was trying to focus on the way we can unify our study and our research on science, computer science and design and art, rather than thinking of them as two separate things," Perlin said.
Perlin is also the founder and director of New York University's Media Research Laboratory, which focuses on the interaction between people and computers.
He demonstrated several ways in which computer programs played an integral part in education, including how a program on facial positions and expressions was used to assist children with autism learn to recognize reactions and behaviors.
"I try to work on as many projects as I can," Perlin said.
Several departments are working with ARTS Lab, including the College of Fine Arts, Anderson Schools of Management and the School of Engineering.
Another area of interest for ARTS Lab and UNM students is the prospect of video game development.
Angel said there is a growing interest in the interactive gaming industry. He said the primary focus for the ARTS Lab will be serious games, or those intended for either educational or military purposes, such as teaching tools for the classroom or flight simulators for combat pilots.
Whitmore said student interests will drive the ARTS Lab's ambition into the gaming industry. He hopes to reach out to freshmen students in particular to help build the next generation of game designers, he said.
"We want to create an environment that provides the kinds of classes where people think outside the box about new games," he said.
The Garage, as well as some of the other classes associated with the ARTS Lab, is expected to begin in the spring.
