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Summer week 9

 Hello, readers! Welcome back for my week nine update on my summer internship at the Brevard Veterans Memorial Center (BVMC). This week, Eric and I had the exciting opportunity to work with some advanced 3D scanning technology. We used high tech scanners from UCF called the Artec Spider. These scanners are a significant investment, costing around $24,000, so we were keen to see how their capabilities compared to the other methods we've been using. A major advantage of the Artec Spider is its ability to create very detailed high quality scans on the fly. While we performed the initial scans in real-time this week, in the future, we plan to scan the objects and then create the full, high-quality models on a more powerful computer back home. This method provided excellent results in terms of quality. However, considering the cost and complexity, we will likely focus on training the museum staff on how to use the KIRI mobile app. KIRI is a free and user-friendly application, making it ...
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Summer Week 7

 Hello, readers! Welcome back to my summer internship blog at the Brevard Veterans Memorial Center (BVMC). It’s hard to believe we’re already in week seven! The summer semester is moving along quickly.  This week, Eric and I continued our 3D digitization efforts, focusing on some fascinating smaller artifacts from the collection. We spent time scanning a painted helmet and a vintage can of Dr. Lyons toothpaste. I can’t wait to see what our own Dr. Lyons thinks of that! We also scanned a modern Kevlar helmet and a few other artifacts.  Perhaps the most unexpected turn of the week came from a bit of historical detective work. While working with the collection, I noticed a set of ration tins labeled as being from World War I. However, I had a hunch that based on their design they were from much later in the century. After a closer look and some research, we were able to confirm they were actually from the Cold War era. With the staff's permission, we carefully opened the tin...
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Summer Week 6

 Hello, readers! Welcome back for my week six update on my summer internship at the Brevard Veterans Memorial Center (BVMC). This week was a little different, as I had a brief training session on 3D scanning with Dr. Giroux at the University of Central Florida. Unfortunately, our time was cut short due to some technical difficulties with the equipment. I also spent some time this week creating a write-up to accompany the 3D models of the trench art we scanned last week. You can read that description below. "The practice of creating trench art is as old as military conflict itself, but it was World War I that truly defined it, giving the pastime its name and, through technological change, its most classic material, the brass cartridge. Later, the mechanized nature of World War II provided soldiers with greater access to the tools and materials needed to produce these items in greater variety and quantity. Servicemembers transformed materials like spent artillery shells, bullets, an...
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Summer Week 5

Hello, readers! Welcome back for the week five update of my summer internship at the Brevard Veterans Memorial Center (BVMC). After a quick detour last week at CHDR( Center for Humanities and Digital Research), I was excited to get back to the museum and apply some of the new techniques I learned. This week, Eric and I dove headfirst into the 3D modeling of some of the artifacts housed within the museum. We started with  trench art from World War I and World War II. For those unfamiliar with it, trench art refers to decorative items made by soldiers, prisoners of war, or civilians from various military weapons, in this case used artillery shells. E Our process began with meticulously photographing these intricate objects. Eric then used a specialized software called Agisoft Metashape to stitch the high-resolution images together, creating highly detailed and accurate 3D models. It is a tedious process of taking pictures on a rotating turntable every few seconds, but we hope that th...
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Summer Week 4

  Hello readers!This fourth week of my internship took a slightly different path. Instead of my usual schedule with Eric at the Brevard Veterans Memorial Center, I had the opportunity to attend a special training session at the University of Central Florida's Center for Humanities and Digital Research (CHDR). The training was led by UCF graduate student Sarah Boye, who guided us through some of the incredible digital tools available at the center. We received hands-on training with their large-scale Titan scanner, a powerful scanner capable of creating incredibly detailed digital reproductions of paper documents. The scanner was detailed enough that we could see the exact penstrokes on the postcards we scanned. We also learned how to operate smaller, more portable scanners, which are essential for a community focused initiative called a  History Harvest. I learned that a History Harvest is an event where community members can bring in their personal artifacts to be professiona...
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Summer Week 3

  Hello, readers! Welcome back for another update on my summer internship at the Brevard Veterans Memorial Center (BVMC). Summer is in full swing, and we've had another busy week exploring the possibilities of 3D digitization within the museum. Following our work photographing the outdoor monuments, this week Eric and I had the opportunity to walk through the interior of the museum. Our main goal was to thoughtfully curate a list of artifacts that would be prime candidates for 3D digitization. It was fascinating to move through the exhibits, not just as a visitor, but with the specific purpose of identifying items whose stories could be enhanced and made more accessible through this technology. We saw a wide array of compelling objects, from personal items donated by veterans to larger pieces of military equipment. Each piece tells a powerful story, and the challenge lies in selecting those that will translate best into a 3D model and offer significant educational value. We were lo...
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Summer Week 2

 Hello again, readers! Another week has flown by at the Brevard Veterans Memorial Center (BVMC), and it's been a productive one, despite the notorious Florida heat! This week, Eric and I braved the summer heat to photograph some of the incredible monuments that grace the center's grounds. The goal is to begin creating 3D models of these important historical markers. It was a lot of careful positioning and snapping hundreds of photos to make sure we had everything we needed to start modeling. Beyond our outdoor photography expedition, we also spoke with representatives from the museum. We talked about which objects inside the center would be ideal candidates for our 3D digitization project. It's exciting to think about bringing some of these incredible artifacts to life in a way that will be viewable online to more people At home I had some additional work to start the modeling process. I spent time uploading all the photographs we took and then started experimenting with th...
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