In this talk session, I propose a look at design in DH projects. Matthew Kirschenbaum suggests in “‘So the Colors Cover the Wires’: Interface, Aesthetics, and Usability,” “just as interface cannot – finally – be decoupled from functionality, neither can aesthetics be decoupled from interface.” This “lesson here for the digital humanities” seems to point to the critical roles design and beauty play in the production and use of DH projects.  Kirschenbaum concludes his article with a glance to the future: “One of the major challenges for the digital humanities in the coming decade will therefore be designing for interfaces (and designing interfaces themselves) outside of the 13- to 21-inch comfort zone of the desktop box.”  With this challenge in mind, I would like for us to consider the following questions:

1. How do we talk about design in DH?

2. How do we teach design in DH?

3. How do we do design in DH?

In addition, I’d like for us to look at a number of interfaces for DH projects to critically reflect on design as it influences how we approach and use the various projects.  Participants will be invited to work in small groups to analyze interfaces and then share their conversations with the whole group.  From these shared discussions, we will strive together to make visible how design and aesthetics work to direct attention, guide action, and affect emotion.  The conclusions that arise will hopefully point to new opportunities and challenges related to the development, composition, and display of DH projects and scholarship.

How can GoogleEarth maps be used to the best effect in digital archive projects? Amy Giroux and I would like to continue the discussion on the use of digital mapping as a conversational feature in interactive digital archives. We have each employed GE map overlays to enhance our archive projects, employing the layering properties and tour feature with the intent of generating comments and feedback from site visitors, as well as providing visual guide points for historic processes (i.e., population and demographic changes over time, land use changes, etc.).

We are interested in hearing what others have experienced, and in exploring the opportunities and limits of this technology as a generative feature in interactive archives.

Magic Mirror Theater is an open-source web application designed to facilitate the study of classical drama and potentially other forms of literature by enhancing the current teaching methodologies in higher education, using an experiential-learning augmented-reality environment. It allows instructors and students to use their classroom projector or personal computer screen as a “magic mirror” in which they can see themselves standing on the stage of an ancient theater digitized in life size, holding digital replicas of ancient props, wearing digital costumes, and interacting with virtual mechanical devices used during theatrical performance in the Greco-Roman world.  A library of 3D objects thematically categorized will be available along with options for selecting theatrical space, perspective, replicating user’s body on the stage in various arrangements (chorus/main actors), and other features. This system aims to help students and future scholars understand the circumstances of performance and comprehend the architectural and spatiotemporal logistics of Classical Drama.