A new simulated world is coming to Ball State's campus.
Avatar Reality Inc. granted the university rights to Blue Mars, a 3-D virtual world platform.
John Fillwalk, director of the Institute for Digital Intermedia Arts, said this is a great honor for them.
"It's an opportunity for Ball State to add in new functionality and continue their great work," said the senior director of Ball State's Hybrid Design Technologies initiative.
Fillwalk said his department has worked with Avatar Reality Inc. on previous projects.
IDIA used Blue Mars technology for the Virtual Middletown Project, a simulated look into the Ball Brothers Glass Manufacturing company as well as simulated the 1915 architecture of the World's Fair in San Francisco.
"[IDIA] has a good relationship with them because we got what their vision was," Fillwalk said.
IDIA creates educational simulators for the university such as the nursing simulator that can be used by prospective nursing students to practice diagnosis techniques with patients.
Fillwalk and his team were granted the rights to develop $10 million worth of Blue Mars virtual world technology.
Blue Mars was created by Avatar Reality Inc. in the 3-D world platform with unparalleled interactivity, fidelity and security. It allows artists to create and present an interactive 3-D experience for a global audience.
Architecture graduate student Chris Harrison works in the simulation lab, where the Blue Mars technology will be planted.
Harrison said the limitless potential of Blue Mars is what attracted him most to the program.
"You can do literally anything you can imagine," Harrison said. "It's an experiential aspect; a quantum leap forward in architecture."
With new 3-D technology starting to rise in the market, this seems to be an exciting leap for the Ball State community, but Harrison said this experience is different than the film aspect.
"This is a user-driven system as opposed to movies that are director-driven," Harrison said.
The virtual world comprises of a helmet that holds the components of the 3-D world inside. With the manipulation of a remote, it's possible to move about within the simulation as if the user is walking normally.
"It's a fully immersive 3-D experience," Harrison said.
The technology will be used by graduate students and staff members in the IDIA lab, but students are interested in the technology.
Freshman computer tech major William Mitchell said he supports the coming of this technology because it essentially doesn't cost the university anything.
Fillwalk and the IDIA lab will use the Blue Mars technology to create new immersive learning experiences for the university.
He said that students will be involved with this project, but that it is more for research-based purposes than play.
"[Blue Mars technology] will commit some Ball State talent," Fillwalk said.
For the gamers out there, Fillwalk compared Blue Mars software to the first person shooter game Crysis, which is based on CryEngine technology.
Under the Ball State's terms and agreement with Avatar Reality, the university will begin to use Blue Mars for research purposes and academic initiatives to enhance the Blue Mars community. On behalf of the university, Ball State will send original content to Blue Mars just as it has done in the past to support the commercial activity of Avatar Reality Inc.
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