Ball State's interactive digital sculpture used to help illustrate its wireless network has earned the university a spot on Campus Technology magazine's list of 101 best practices.

The list, published in the December issue and on www.campustechnology.com, looked at some of the year's best practices of technology implementations on college campuses. The magazine divided the list up into three categories: "smart classroom," "connectivity" and "administrative IT."

The interactive digital sculpture made its debut on campus in April, bringing the university's network traffic to life using digital art and music that reacted in real time to activity changes on the wireless network. A version of the sculpture is now a permanent fixture at the Ball State Indianapolis Center.

"This sculpture has enabled us to visualize and personalize what our wireless network traffic looks like in a unique and innovative way," said O'Neal Smitherman, vice president for information technology. "It's exciting to be recognized by Campus Technology for the way in which we brought our wireless network to life."

The digital sculpture was developed by Jesse Allison, Keith Kothman and John Fillwalk, faculty from the College of Fine Arts and the Institute for Digital Intermedia Art and Animation (IDIAA) and Phil Repp, associate vice president for information technology.

IDIAA is an immersive learning center that was one of four funded by a $20 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., designed to enhance Ball State's innovative, immersive and educational experiences for students in digital technology.