Lori Walters and Joseph Kider make an interesting research team at 激情快播鈥檚 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 after school. Kider played baseball with the guys. Walters teaches courses for 激情快播鈥檚 history department and has an admiration for technology. Kider鈥檚 a computer science expert and a SMST associate professor who appreciates history.
鈥淚 just finished a book about the history of the pixel,鈥� Kider says proudly, before admitting, 鈥淚鈥檓 not at Lori鈥檚 level.鈥�
They even speak different languages.
鈥淲hen I work with people like Joe,鈥� Walters says, 鈥淚 have to say, 鈥極K, talk to me without the deep computer terminology. I鈥檓 an historian here.鈥欌��
They exemplify the interdisciplinary spirit of SMST by using what Kider calls 鈥渁 shared mental model.鈥� Walters might describe an object as shiny while Kider will talk about its specular bidirectional reflectance distribution factor.
鈥淭he blend of disciplines is why we鈥檙e productive,鈥� Kider says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e artists, philosophers, architects, engineers, historians and computer scientists, all working on big societal applications.鈥�
Walters says it like this: 鈥淚 can go to smart people like Joe with a cool idea and ask if we can bring it to life.鈥�
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鈥檚 heyday from the 1950s into the mid 1970s.
鈥淢emoryScan is as the name suggests,鈥� says Walters. 鈥淚t鈥檚 using the memories that people have of a location and preserving them as a virtual experience for future generations.鈥�
The project has attracted internal grants from 激情快播 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.
鈥淚鈥檓 amazed at how far we鈥檝e come in bringing history to life,鈥� says Walters. It鈥檚 an idea that took root in her mind years ago.
The Seeds of MemoryScan
Before earning a Ph.D. from Florida State, Walters studied at Florida Atlantic where she followed up a bachelor鈥檚 in U.S. history with a master鈥檚 in the same field. One assignment changed her aspirations: a research paper on anything in Florida intriguing enough to justify 25 pages. Walters remembered a drive north on A1A and seeing Cocoa Beach.
鈥淭here were still signs up from the 1960s calling it Missileland, USA,鈥� she says. 鈥淪o, I thought it would be fun to find out what the area had been like when the space program was growing there.鈥�
Her fascination for the city鈥檚 past began. Later, ,she went back to Cocoa Beach to conduct oral histories with people who had worked at Cape Canaveral during the space race. She noticed a concrete ramp, the only remnant of the launch complex where John Glenn made history by rocketing into orbit.
鈥淚 wondered how the history might be recreated, so it wouldn鈥檛 be lost forever,鈥� Walters says.
A thousand miles away, a high schooler in Philly was getting caught up in another world of wonder: Toy Story.
鈥淭he way they made the movie through physics and renderings had an impact on what I鈥檓 doing today,鈥� Kider says.
What he鈥檚 doing with MemoryScan, specifically, started with a phone call from Walters in early 2021. Walters had been talking with longtime Cocoa Beach residents to preserve their memories through audio recordings and written material. One woman, Vivian Lindauer, took Walters on an unforgettable mental tour of the old Missileland.
鈥淪he went into amazing detail, right down to the furniture and types of calculators that were used in the iconic Glass Bank [formally known as The First Federal Savings and Loan],鈥� Walters says. 鈥淭hen she closed her eyes and literally described motels to me as if we were driving up A1A 50 years ago. That鈥檚 when I thought, 鈥楾his is what has always been missing from oral histories: Put people in a vehicle, drive around and record history as they describe it.鈥�
After mentally cruising the town with Vivian, Walters met with Kider and asked if it could be done. Can we provide people with prompts and take down the memories as they travel around? Can we track not just the words, but the gestures, the vocal inflections and the long pauses at points of interest? Can we capture so much of their memory that the memory then become a virtual experience for others?
Kider said yes. He suggested using devices to track eye and hand movements, cameras, GPS and crystal-clear audio recordings.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I like working in SMST with people who love technology,鈥� Walters says. 鈥淭hey find a way.鈥�
The Future of MemoryScan
During her quest for Cocoa Beach鈥檚 experiential history, Walters has collected plenty of mementos. Pictures, blueprints, restaurant menus, hotel logos. They鈥檙e used to prime the remembrances of people who were there in the day. The cues are crucial, but the people complete the mosaic.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e the key to everything,鈥� Walters says. 鈥淥nce they鈥檙e gone, any uncaptured memories are gone with them.鈥�
The history of Cocoa Beach and its proximity to 激情快播 have made it an ideal test bed. But Walters and Kider stress that MemoryScan grew from idea to reality because of Vivian Lindauer. When she passed away earlier this year, they gave MemoryScan a code name: Project Vivian.
鈥淟ori always tells me to focus on the people, not on the science,鈥� Kider says. 鈥淭he code name is a good reminder of that.鈥�
With the funding from NEH, they鈥檒l be able to add depth and vividness to Project Vivian. And then? Walters envisions MemoryScan being used to capture old Miami Beach. Kider imagines his kids seeing where he grew up in Philadelphia.
鈥淎s we become older, the memories of our favorite places become more important,鈥� Kider says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what binds us together because we鈥檙e all from somewhere.鈥�
