Classics alumnus, Michael Mignanelli (BA, 2016), currently a PhD student in Classics at the University of Texas at Austin, is one of four recipients of the Media Production Grant from the College of Liberal Arts at UT Austin. The purpose of the $5,000 grant, which is awarded to humanities scholars from an array of disciplines, is to increase the visibility of humanities outside academia.
Michael's project, Ancient Drama for the 21st Century Reader, will create a user-friendly interface for reading ancient drama using a digital scenario platform with Virtual Reality (VR) capabilities. This will allow users to digitally enter an ancient theater with VR goggles or any digital device. It will then use scenario-synched and chatmapping technology to view and read the lines of an ancient play while watching avatars that represent each of the characters performing simple stage movements. The two plays selected for this project are Euripides’ Medea and Aristophanes’ Frogs, which are among the most commonly read plays both in high schools and colleges. The Media Production Grant will help with software and equipment costs to build the VR experience for these two plays.
Read the article at the link below.
