Ball State University’s Institute for Digital Intermedia Arts (IDIA Lab) has partnered with Mechdyne to help deliver immersive, educational 3D experiences to higher education institutions, museums, and other organizations through Mechdyne’s getReal3D for Unity platform.
The collaboration combines Mechdyne’s advanced visualization technology with IDIA Lab’s expertise in creating historically accurate, interactive virtual environments, resulting in a curated library of ready-to-use demonstration experiences for virtual reality systems.
As part of the collaboration, Ball State students working through the IDIA Lab have contributed to the creation, testing, and refinement of immersive learning content—gaining experience with real-world production workflows and partner expectations while helping expand the library of educational 3D experiences available through Mechdyne’s platform.
“One of the most powerful parts of this work is what it means for students,” said John Fillwalk, senior director of the IDIA Lab. “Partnerships like this connect classroom learning to real clients, real production standards, and real audiences, giving our students the chance to collaborate, build, test, and refine immersive experiences that can be used by educators and learners far beyond our campus. We’re grateful to Mechdyne for investing in this collaboration and helping extend the reach of the work our students and team create.”
To help reduce a common barrier to adopting immersive technology—access to relevant content—this collaboration between Mechdyne and Ball State’s IDIA Lab provides institutions with experiences designed to demonstrate possibilities quickly while supporting teaching and research needs.
The curated library includes immersive, interactive experiences that explore historic and cultural sites and scientific concepts—such as Stonehenge; the Byōdō-In Temple; Hadrian’s Villa: The Antinoeion; Newton’s Cenotaph; Arabic Heritage Sites; the 1915 World’s Fair; and Pumapunku—built for integration with getReal3D-enabled systems.
Established at Ball State to bridge emerging digital technologies and immersive learning, the IDIA Lab—part of Ball State’s Estopinal College of Architecture and Planning—develops scholarly, creative, and pedagogical projects that explore virtual and augmented reality, human-computer interface design, visualization, and 3D simulation.
Initially supported through Lilly Endowment, Inc.’s Digital Media Initiative, the IDIA Lab provides facilities and services that give students and faculty space to prototype, test, and refine immersive experiences, supporting classroom projects, faculty research, and partner-driven work. IDIA Lab collaborations extend beyond campus, connecting Ball State expertise with organizations seeking interactive, experiential approaches to learning and engagement.
For more information about Mechdyne’s immersive educational 3D experiences created in partnership with Ball State’s IDIA Lab, visit https://www.mechdyne.com/av-vr-solutions/immersive-educational-3d-experiences/.