{"id":15270,"date":"2018-11-09T10:26:16","date_gmt":"2018-11-09T15:26:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/?p=15270"},"modified":"2018-11-09T10:26:16","modified_gmt":"2018-11-09T15:26:16","slug":"introducing-the-visual-narrative-faculty-cluster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/2018\/11\/09\/introducing-the-visual-narrative-faculty-cluster\/","title":{"rendered":"Introducing the Visual Narrative Faculty Cluster"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Visual<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s only a year old, but already the Visual Narrative faculty cluster has come together as a team to find new ways of telling stories\u2014and to offer their resources to community members. Its members are physically spread across campus, hailing from four departments. Of the 20 clusters hired so far by the Chancellor\u2019s Faculty Excellence Program, it is perhaps the most diverse.<\/p>\n

The cluster includes Todd Berreth<\/a>, Assistant Professor of Art + Design<\/a>; Frederico Freitas, Assistant Professor of History; Tianfu Wu, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering; and is coordinated by Matthew Booker, Associate Professor of History; Helen Burgess, Associate Professor of English; and Arnav Jhala, Associate Professor of Computer Science.<\/p>\n

Jhala explains that the cluster concept was developed to give faculty members a structure that would support interdisciplinary research in teams that could encourage and support each member\u2019s ideas. By spanning several colleges, a cluster offers each member access to far more knowledge and approaches than if they were working alone. Berreth notes, \u201cWe each have our projects and our lines of research, including some problems we think are intractable. Someone from another discipline might say, \u2018I have this technique that might apply to that to solve your problem.\u2019 You know your own domain, but someone else\u2019s domain might have an application that might help yours.\u201d<\/p>\n

“You know your own domain, but someone else\u2019s domain might have an application that might help yours.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWe all were committed to that kind of research already in the institutions we were at,\u201d he adds, \u201cbut here we want to take it to the next level. Rather than saying, \u2018Here\u2019s my project; I want someone to consult me on technology,\u2019 we are building a project that has a technological research component at the same time as history, research, and art and design components.\u201d<\/p>\n

And indeed, when they\u2019re all together, ideas and suggestions fly back and forth. The group meets weekly in the Games and Visual Narrative Suite to discuss their progress and brainstorm. Their ideas are varied, and multiple projects are being pursued at once. But what drives them as a unit is the concept of visual narrative: \u201cOur society has increasingly become visual; the data that we get is exceedingly visual. We make sense of the world through narratives, and most of our communication is essentially media direct to technology,\u201d says Jhala. The visual narrative group examines: \u201cthe ways in which we can develop new technologies that enable better communication through visual narratives, make technologies that actually understand at a deeper level the narratives that make sense to us and the meaning they provide to us, as well as understanding us through analysis of narratives that we generate.\u201d<\/p>\n

One completed project is housed in the James B. Hunt Jr. Library. It\u2019s an activity called (Not So) Silent Movie<\/em> that was developed last year by the cluster\u2019s artist-in-residence, Hope Hutman. Accessed in the iPearl Immersion Theater, which includes wraparound screens, it offers passersby the opportunity to create short silent films using their choice of movie clips from old black and white Westerns and quotes drawn from Jane Austen\u2019s Sense and Sensibility<\/em>. Jhala intends to collect data from the installation that considers human-computer interaction.<\/p>\n

The group\u2019s largest undertaking so far is the Urban Panorama Project. It\u2019s in the planning and research stages, but the group is pairing with the NCSU libraries and archives in order to develop a tool to geolocate historical photographs of Raleigh. Using images from the archive\u2019s collection (and eventually, they hope, from the State Archives), technologies like Google Streetview, and computer vision and machine learning techniques, cluster members are developing an algorithm that will enable a computer to identify where old images have been taken. Everyone\u2019s skills come into play\u2014Berreth\u2019s architectural knowledge and Freitas\u2019 historical expertise can pinpoint features on buildings that give them a sense of when an image was taken; Wu and Jhala will engineer the algorithms that recognize physical traits of the buildings and landscape.<\/p>\n

Booker, who helped make hiring decisions about the cluster, says: \u201cWhen I look at this cluster, what I think about is how unlikely it is that we were able to do this; it\u2019s not happening anywhere else. It\u2019s a tribute to the Visual Narrative hiring committee that we exist, and frankly to [Professor of English\/Women\u2019s Studies] Laura Severin, who gave us practical advice throughout the entire process. It\u2019s a huge, cool opportunity, and I think it\u2019s already paying off because of this Urban Panorama Project, which did not exist in anybody\u2019s mind or heart before the four hires came to campus. I\u2019m genuinely impressed by their collaboration and desire to make things.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the help of Mike Nutt, Director of Visualization Services for the NCSU libraries, they are pursuing funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities for this project. Nutt also helped coordinate the installation of (Not So) Silent Movie<\/em>. \u201cThe cluster is special to the libraries for several reasons,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s one of the only clusters that has a humanities component, and just because of what we do and the collections we provide, there\u2019s a natural fit there in trying to uncover narrative-driven research. The other reason it\u2019s important to us is the Hunt Library is a storytelling building; these spaces are made for faculty and students to tell the stories of their research and learning that\u2019s happening on campus. In some ways, they\u2019re a perfect fit for the technology we provide in this building and in D.H. Hill as well, so we recognize that their presence and their founding was a good opportunity for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

“These spaces are made for faculty and students to tell the stories of their research and learning that\u2019s happening on campus.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jhala, Berreth, and Freitas also received a DELTA Grant for their proposal: \u201cVisual Narrative Multi-disciplinary Project Studio.\u201d The grant \u201callows us to explore different platforms so we can effectively engage students from all these different fields,\u201d says Jhala. He explains that the tools used in each field, as well as the teaching methods, vary greatly. The grant gives way to opportunities to cultivate what most interests students. Berreth explains: \u201cWe could say, \u2018bring me your most interesting storytelling idea using these technologies,\u2019 and pitch it to our students, and then the students would pick projects they could get really excited about.\u201d He envisions the outcome of these projects leading to internships, exhibitions, and future career opportunities.<\/p>\n

Their goal is to hold classes across the disciplines of the humanities, design, and engineering at the same time slot during a given semester so students in those classes can benefit from cross-disciplinary exposure and collaboration.<\/p>\n

Like cluster faculty, students will be learning to \u201crespect other disciplines\u2019 methods and outcomes,\u201d says Jhala. \u201cThrough direct interactions with practical projects, they will develop the skills as they go. What I would want students to get out of this is not only the ability to be successful interdisciplinary researchers but also to understand the workflows and work ethics and values of the other disciplines. And more practically speaking, I want them to come out with portfolio projects so they are immediately attractive to industry, foundations, or grad schools, etc.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to collaborating with the library, the Visual Narrative group may pair with other clusters. Overall, Berreth is enthusiastic about developing solutions that can be shared not just across the university but with anyone: \u201cThere are a lot of people that are huge champions of the open source movement, the ideas of open design, certain realms in which you build capabilities and tools and things that you share with the community freely hoping that other people will do the same and everyone\u2019s work can be helped.\u201d Indeed, he\u2019s already undertaken several projects with partners at Duke University, including a \u201csmart trowel\u201d and an interactive table that responds to 3-D objects.<\/p>\n

Overwhelmingly, the members of the Visual Narrative cluster and their collaborators are excited for what the future holds. \u201cWe will come up with very interesting projects for sure,\u201d says Jhala. \u201cWhatever project we\u2019ll take on, we\u2019ll do very well because of the dynamics we\u2019ve generated in the last year.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false,"raw":"\"Visual<\/a>\n\nIt\u2019s only a year old, but already the Visual Narrative faculty cluster has come together as a team to find new ways of telling stories\u2014and to offer their resources to community members. Its members are physically spread across campus, hailing from four departments. Of the 20 clusters hired so far by the Chancellor\u2019s Faculty Excellence Program, it is perhaps the most diverse.\n\nThe cluster includes Todd Berreth<\/a>, Assistant Professor of Art + Design<\/a>; Frederico Freitas, Assistant Professor of History; Tianfu Wu, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering; and is coordinated by Matthew Booker, Associate Professor of History; Helen Burgess, Associate Professor of English; and Arnav Jhala, Associate Professor of Computer Science.\n\nJhala explains that the cluster concept was developed to give faculty members a structure that would support interdisciplinary research in teams that could encourage and support each member\u2019s ideas. By spanning several colleges, a cluster offers each member access to far more knowledge and approaches than if they were working alone. Berreth notes, \u201cWe each have our projects and our lines of research, including some problems we think are intractable. Someone from another discipline might say, \u2018I have this technique that might apply to that to solve your problem.\u2019 You know your own domain, but someone else\u2019s domain might have an application that might help yours.\u201d\n

\"You know your own domain, but someone else\u2019s domain might have an application that might help yours.\u201d<\/blockquote>\n\u201cWe all were committed to that kind of research already in the institutions we were at,\u201d he adds, \u201cbut here we want to take it to the next level. Rather than saying, \u2018Here\u2019s my project; I want someone to consult me on technology,\u2019 we are building a project that has a technological research component at the same time as history, research, and art and design components.\u201d\n\nAnd indeed, when they\u2019re all together, ideas and suggestions fly back and forth. The group meets weekly in the Games and Visual Narrative Suite to discuss their progress and brainstorm. Their ideas are varied, and multiple projects are being pursued at once. But what drives them as a unit is the concept of visual narrative: \u201cOur society has increasingly become visual; the data that we get is exceedingly visual. We make sense of the world through narratives, and most of our communication is essentially media direct to technology,\u201d says Jhala. The visual narrative group examines: \u201cthe ways in which we can develop new technologies that enable better communication through visual narratives, make technologies that actually understand at a deeper level the narratives that make sense to us and the meaning they provide to us, as well as understanding us through analysis of narratives that we generate.\u201d\n\nOne completed project is housed in the James B. Hunt Jr. Library. It\u2019s an activity called (Not So) Silent Movie<\/em> that was developed last year by the cluster\u2019s artist-in-residence, Hope Hutman. Accessed in the iPearl Immersion Theater, which includes wraparound screens, it offers passersby the opportunity to create short silent films using their choice of movie clips from old black and white Westerns and quotes drawn from Jane Austen\u2019s Sense and Sensibility<\/em>. Jhala intends to collect data from the installation that considers human-computer interaction.\n\nThe group\u2019s largest undertaking so far is the Urban Panorama Project. It\u2019s in the planning and research stages, but the group is pairing with the NCSU libraries and archives in order to develop a tool to geolocate historical photographs of Raleigh. Using images from the archive\u2019s collection (and eventually, they hope, from the State Archives), technologies like Google Streetview, and computer vision and machine learning techniques, cluster members are developing an algorithm that will enable a computer to identify where old images have been taken. Everyone\u2019s skills come into play\u2014Berreth\u2019s architectural knowledge and Freitas\u2019 historical expertise can pinpoint features on buildings that give them a sense of when an image was taken; Wu and Jhala will engineer the algorithms that recognize physical traits of the buildings and landscape.\n\nBooker, who helped make hiring decisions about the cluster, says: \u201cWhen I look at this cluster, what I think about is how unlikely it is that we were able to do this; it\u2019s not happening anywhere else. It\u2019s a tribute to the Visual Narrative hiring committee that we exist, and frankly to [Professor of English\/Women\u2019s Studies] Laura Severin, who gave us practical advice throughout the entire process. It\u2019s a huge, cool opportunity, and I think it\u2019s already paying off because of this Urban Panorama Project, which did not exist in anybody\u2019s mind or heart before the four hires came to campus. I\u2019m genuinely impressed by their collaboration and desire to make things.\u201d\n\nWith the help of Mike Nutt, Director of Visualization Services for the NCSU libraries, they are pursuing funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities for this project. Nutt also helped coordinate the installation of (Not So) Silent Movie<\/em>. \u201cThe cluster is special to the libraries for several reasons,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s one of the only clusters that has a humanities component, and just because of what we do and the collections we provide, there\u2019s a natural fit there in trying to uncover narrative-driven research. The other reason it\u2019s important to us is the Hunt Library is a storytelling building; these spaces are made for faculty and students to tell the stories of their research and learning that\u2019s happening on campus. In some ways, they\u2019re a perfect fit for the technology we provide in this building and in D.H. Hill as well, so we recognize that their presence and their founding was a good opportunity for us.\u201d\n
\"These spaces are made for faculty and students to tell the stories of their research and learning that\u2019s happening on campus.\"<\/blockquote>\nJhala, Berreth, and Freitas also received a DELTA Grant for their proposal: \u201cVisual Narrative Multi-disciplinary Project Studio.\u201d The grant \u201callows us to explore different platforms so we can effectively engage students from all these different fields,\u201d says Jhala. He explains that the tools used in each field, as well as the teaching methods, vary greatly. The grant gives way to opportunities to cultivate what most interests students. Berreth explains: \u201cWe could say, \u2018bring me your most interesting storytelling idea using these technologies,\u2019 and pitch it to our students, and then the students would pick projects they could get really excited about.\u201d He envisions the outcome of these projects leading to internships, exhibitions, and future career opportunities.\n\nTheir goal is to hold classes across the disciplines of the humanities, design, and engineering at the same time slot during a given semester so students in those classes can benefit from cross-disciplinary exposure and collaboration.\n\nLike cluster faculty, students will be learning to \u201crespect other disciplines\u2019 methods and outcomes,\u201d says Jhala. \u201cThrough direct interactions with practical projects, they will develop the skills as they go. What I would want students to get out of this is not only the ability to be successful interdisciplinary researchers but also to understand the workflows and work ethics and values of the other disciplines. And more practically speaking, I want them to come out with portfolio projects so they are immediately attractive to industry, foundations, or grad schools, etc.\u201d\n\nIn addition to collaborating with the library, the Visual Narrative group may pair with other clusters. Overall, Berreth is enthusiastic about developing solutions that can be shared not just across the university but with anyone: \u201cThere are a lot of people that are huge champions of the open source movement, the ideas of open design, certain realms in which you build capabilities and tools and things that you share with the community freely hoping that other people will do the same and everyone\u2019s work can be helped.\u201d Indeed, he\u2019s already undertaken several projects with partners at Duke University, including a \u201csmart trowel\u201d and an interactive table that responds to 3-D objects.\n\nOverwhelmingly, the members of the Visual Narrative cluster and their collaborators are excited for what the future holds. \u201cWe will come up with very interesting projects for sure,\u201d says Jhala. \u201cWhatever project we\u2019ll take on, we\u2019ll do very well because of the dynamics we\u2019ve generated in the last year.\u201d"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NC State’s Visual Narrative Cluster is driven to research the methods to tell stories – with technology and innovation – that no one else has.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":15273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","ncst_content_audit_display":false,"ncst_backToTopFlag":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9],"class_list":["post-15270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-innovation","tag-art-design"],"displayCategory":null,"acf":{"ncst_posts_meta_modified_date":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15270\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}