News and Events — Page 1 of 1
IMM Projects in New Jersey Festival of Electronic Art
Several interactive projects by IMM students and faculty were recently featured in the New Jersey Festival of Electronic Art at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ. Students Brett Taylor and Chris Hallberg created “Grounds for Kinect” using a Microsoft Kinect Camera and Processing to manipulate real-time, 3D, pin-screen style images of visitors in the space. Professor John Kuiphoff’s “ReedBox” uses magnets placed on a grid to control a synthesizer, play games, and more. And professor Teresa Marrin Nakra’s “Virtual Maestro” kiosk allows users to conduct an on-screen orchestral performance using a Nintendo Wii controller as a conductor’s baton. IMM professor and coordinator Chris Ault helped to organize the festival.
IMM Students Compete in Global Game Jame
Students from TCNJ’s Interactive Multimedia program and Computer Science department recently competed in the annual Global Game Jam competition. Teams had 48 hours to devise the storylines, create the graphics and write the code necessary to develop engaging games. The competition took place at sites around the world simultaneously and was hosted locally by the New Jersey Institute of technology, giving TCNJ students a valuable opportunity to compete and collaborate with students from NJIT.
IMM Grad Develops Award-Winning App
IMM alum Bruno Kruse recently returned to TCNJ to discuss his role in developing Project NOAH, a location-aware iPhone application that allows “citizen scientists” around the world to discover, document, and discuss local wildlife. Originally developed as a graduate school project at NYU, Project NOAH (Networked Organisms and Habitats) allows iPhone users to snap photos of animals and plants and add them to a global database. The popular application was recently awarded a Cooney Center Prize for Innovation in Children’s Learning, and is listed as a “rising social app for social good” by American Express’s Open Forum on Innovation.
TCNJ Named to Top 50 Game Design Programs
The College of New Jersey is one of the 50 best undergraduate institutions in the U.S. and Canada to study game design, according to GamePro Magazine and The Princeton Review, one of America’s most widely known education services and test preparation companies. TCNJ is the only school in the state of New Jersey to be included on the list. The list is reported in GamePro’s April 2010 issue and on the web sites of The Princeton Review and GamePro.
New Art and IMM Building Opens
The new Art and Interactive Multimedia building opened for classes in January, 2010. In addition to housing faculty and administrative offices for the Art department and Interactive Multimedia program, the 70,000 square foot building features a range of state-of-the-art facilities, including computer labs, a recording studio, student studios and exhibition space, classrooms, seminar rooms, the College’s art gallery, and specialized studios for sculpture, print-making, photography and more.
TCNJ Students & Alumni Win Prize Package at Philly Game Jam
Three teams of current and former TNCJ students recently participated in the Philly Game Jam competition, a game development contest held in October. Ten teams were each challenged with designing and developing an original computer game in only 48 hours. Prizes were awarded for “Most Innovative Game” and “Best Adherence to Contest Theme,” the latter of which was awarded to TCNJ’s “Yellow” team, earning them a prize package valued at over $9,000.
IJIMS Introduces Web-Based Journalism to Local Middle Schoolers
Supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Broadening Participation in Computing program, the Interactive Journalism Institute for Middle Schoolers (IJIMS) introduces kids to the world of web-based reporting. Through a variety of summer and after school programs led by TCNJ faculty and students, the children and their teachers work together to create and maintain an online magazine incorporating digital media, interactive graphics and video. IJIMS works to develop not only computer and writing skills, but also confidence and creativity in young kids from underrepresented populations. To learn more about the project, visit: http://www.tcnj.edu/~ijims/
Professors Awarded $360,000 Grant for Multidisciplinary Course
The National Science Foundation recently awarded a $360,000 grant to a team of four TCNJ professors: Andrea Salgian, Assistant Professor of Computer Science; Teresa Nakra, Assistant Professor of Music; Christopher Ault, Assistant Professor of Interactive Multimedia; and Jennifer Wang, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering. The grant is part of the NSF’s CreativeIT program, intended to foster creative thinking in technical fields. As part of the grant, the four professors have implemented a multidisciplinary course, bringing together students from their respective majors with the goal of designing and building a non-human conductor capable of leading an orchestra, using a combination of robotics and screen-based interfaces.
Professor Awarded COAHSI Premiere Grant
IMM Professor Phillip Sanders has been awarded Premiere Grant from the Council on the Arts & Humanities for Staten Island, for the project “Interactive Panoramas at the Tibetan Museum”, funded by the New York State Council on the Arts. Sanders plans to use the grant to lead public workshops on digital photography at the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art, demonstrating how to create digital panoramas using the museum’s gardens and exteriors as inspiration.
Conductor Hero
Guitar heroes, lay down your axes. The Virtual Maestro Interactive Conducting Kiosk lets you conduct an entire orchestra using a Nintendo Wii-mote. Designed and built by a team that included Teresa Nakra, Assistant Professor of Music, and Chris Ault, Assistant Professor of Interactive Multimedia, the kiosk has appeared in prominent concert halls across the U.S.and will soon head to Europe. Watch the video to see it in action.
