$2.5 million ARTS Lab opens doors

by Christopher Sanchez

Daily Lobo

Ed Angel said he never thought an oil-stained car garage would be transformed into a $2.5 million Digital Media Garage - artists did, though.

"The art people just take one look at this and they see one big open space and see what it can become," said Angel, director of the ARTS Lab.

The Digital Media Garage had its opening ceremony Wednesday on the corner of Central Avenue and University Boulevard, which was formerly Galles Motor Co.

The center has a theatrical dome, a full-corner green screen, a motion capture system and an advanced lighting system.

The 5,500-square-foot Art, Research, Technology and Science Lab was funded $3 million by the state. The money was allocated as a part of Gov. Bill Richardson's New Mexico's Media Industries Strategy Project, which was created to make New Mexico a media hub.

Tim Thomas, deputy director of the ARTS Lab, said the computer system in the center is worth $3 million and was given at discount by IBM. Thomas said the computer systems consist of more than 300 processors.

Angel said Clemson University neurosurgeons use a similar motion tracking system to study people with Parkinson's disease. Now UNM will have the same opportunity, he said.

"The motion tracking system has tremendous resolution to look at people's movements before and after surgery, and with that you get a better understanding of the brain and what to do next," he said. "We're going to have the ability to do these kinds of things down here."

UNM students will have the ability to use the center if they have an appropriate proposal, Angel said. He said the center will be similar to the CIRT computer labs that are open for everybody to use.

"It's not like the door is going to be sitting open every day, but a student or faculty member should be able to come in and use this equipment," he said. "It doesn't belong to single department or a single college."

UNM student Navi Madrugada said she knew of the center's opening because her photography professor has an office in the building. She was excited about the event, she said.

"I haven't thought about me personally using it," she said. "But it has some great resources that would be neat to put into use."

Angel said the 15-foot dome cost $200,000 and could be used for education and entertainment purposes. He said his art students have worked with the dome at Lodestar, but it was difficult to work there because the astronomy center had its own educational shows running. Now, he said, they have their own dome to work with.

"This facility has exactly the hardware and software, but it allows us to work 24 hours a day without interfering what goes on at the planetarium," he said. "If we produce something, we can bring it down there and show it to 150 people or show it to other planetariums around the world."

Angel said the dome is one of a kind because no other University has one.

There will be a course on producing animation for the dome for the spring semester, he said.

He said the center will allow just about any department or college at UNM to teach new courses.

Madrugada said the theatrical dome and motion tracking system were fascinating.

"It would be good for photography work, making videos or portraits," she said, speaking about the motion tracking system.