{"id":131750,"date":"2022-10-17T09:36:17","date_gmt":"2022-10-17T13:36:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=131750"},"modified":"2022-10-17T10:11:46","modified_gmt":"2022-10-17T14:11:46","slug":"the-way-we-remember","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/the-way-we-remember\/","title":{"rendered":"The Way We Remember"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lori Walters and Joseph Kider make an interesting research team at UCF\u2019s School of Modeling, Simulation and Training (SMST). Walters grew up under the blue skies of South Florida. Kider grew up in inner-city Philadelphia. Walters would watch I Dream of Jeannie<\/em> after school. Kider played baseball with the guys. Walters teaches courses for UCF\u2019s history department and has an admiration for technology. Kider\u2019s a computer science expert and a SMST associate professor who appreciates history.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just finished a book about the history of the pixel,\u201d Kider says proudly, before admitting, \u201cI\u2019m not at Lori\u2019s level.\u201d<\/p>\n

They even speak different languages.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I work with people like Joe,\u201d Walters says, \u201cI have to say, \u2018OK, talk to me without the deep computer terminology. I\u2019m an historian here.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

They exemplify the interdisciplinary spirit of SMST by using what Kider calls \u201ca shared mental model.\u201d Walters might describe an object as shiny while Kider will talk about its specular bidirectional reflectance distribution factor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe blend of disciplines is why we\u2019re productive,\u201d Kider says. \u201cWe\u2019re artists, philosophers, architects, engineers, historians and computer scientists, all working on big societal applications.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walters says it like this: \u201cI can go to smart people like Joe with a cool idea and ask if we can bring it to life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their latest project coming to life is called MemoryScan. Once fully developed, the MemoryScan system will allow end-users to go back in time, through virtual or augmented reality, and experience locations the way they once were. It could be Sunset Strip from 50 years ago or a neighborhood from when your parents were growing up. The pilot project, which could be launched in early 2023, will be a virtual drive through Cocoa Beach, Florida, during the Space Program\u2019s heyday from the 1950s into the mid 1970s.<\/p>\n

\u201cMemoryScan is as the name suggests,\u201d says Walters. \u201cIt\u2019s using the memories that people have of a location and preserving them as a virtual experience for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The project has attracted internal grants from UCF and partnerships with companies like Langan Engineering. Most recently, the National Endowment for the Humanities awarded a grant that will allow MemoryScan to incorporate technology to make it a more vivid experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m amazed at how far we\u2019ve come in bringing history to life,\u201d says Walters. It\u2019s an idea that took root in her mind years ago.<\/p>\n