Florida History in 3D, http://floridahistoryin3d.com/. Created
and maintained by Florida Division of Historical Resources. Reviewed Oct. 3-8,
2019.
Viewing artifacts in a museum has always been limited by
space. Space in terms of distance traveled to the museum and space as it
relates to the confines of the museum’s show floor and archives. This problem
of space can often be eliminated, for the most part, by digital collections.
Many museums and archives have taken to photographs to digitize their materials
in an effort to reach a wider audience with greater ease. However, Florida
History in 3D takes it a step farther by digitizing archaeological materials into
3D rendered models by using photogrammetry to preserve the integrity of the
object as viewed in person.
Florida
History in 3D is a project that launched on March 16th, 2018 by
Florida’s Division of Historical Resources as a website that is available for
computers and mobile devices. The website’s design is appealing and straightforward.
Either by clicking the four simple tabs or scrolling down you can view the project’s
purpose, a history of Spanish plate fleets (the inaugural collection), the
gallery, and a map of some, but not all, Florida museums. This project is relevant to my own research because it uses the digital tools I also intend to use in my research and relates to bringing Florida artifacts from the archives into an easy to access public space.
The gallery
is where most of the website’s substance can be found featuring 18 of the most visually
appealing artifacts from the Spanish Plate Fleet collection. The artifacts are divided
amongst three categories and once viewed, produce an interactive high-resolution
3D model with interactive touchpoints revealing more information about the
object in addition to the description and the function of the object complete with
a scholarly reference.
The
project is useful as a teaching tool for students interested in learning about
Spanish Plate Fleets and the concept of Florida History in 3D as a whole is
likely to be a great tool for teaching on a variety of subjects in Florida’s
history. However, therein lies the projects greatest fault. Its inaugural collection
of 18 artifacts relating to Spanish Plate Fleets is the only collection. While
the presentation and goal of the project is remarkable and shows great promise,
a year and seven months after its debut with no additional collections or
updates begins to beg the question if the project is serious in its goal,
lacking funding, or just a showcase of photogrammetry for Florida’s artifacts.
The
projects educational focus on only the most stunning artifacts betrays its orientation
to the public. Operating as a showcase instead of a comprehensive gallery assist
scholars little, however it is clear this was never the intent. The project is
first and foremost a digital exhibit and educational resource which allows for
a wide array of uses. A showcase for learning the use of primary archaeological
sources, or a delve into learning about material culture this project can not
only teach the history of a particular topic, showcase primary sources using
high resolution 3D models, and point out Florida museums on map for those
interested in more, but the project can do all of this from any device with
internet connection that can navigate to websites.
The
reach of the project is perhaps its greatest strength, being able to display artifacts
with incredible accuracy anywhere without being limited by distance and time as
well as its easy to navigate interface makes this project widely accessible.
While there are no publicly available metrics to determine its total reach, the
3D models are hosted on sketchfab.com and their models have as little as 41
views to a few hundred with the total view count around 1.4 thousand. This
project by Florida’s Division of Historical Resources proves itself a phenomenal
tool for educational purposes and for the public, however its lack of support
in branching out from its inaugural roots to realize its goal is a troubling
sign of a shelved project which is a critique it cannot shake.
Trevor D. Colaneri
University of Central
Florida – Orlando
Orlando, Florida
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