Recently, UVA Today followed Will Rourk, Cultural Visualization Specialist for the University Library, as he used a handheld laser scanner to capture 3D data of architectural details inside Garrett Hall—a dining hall when it was built in 1909, but currently home to the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy.

The Digital Media Lab’s major investment in 3D imaging technology, and UVA’s partnership in CyArk’s “500 Challenge” to preserve and publicly share 3D images of 500 threatened cultural heritage sites in five years, means that Will and others will be scanning and sending data on many aspects of UVA’s cultural heritage that will be stored and displayed on CyArk’s website.

The data collected in these scans will have benefits that extend beyond having a detailed record in case of destruction by natural or man-made forces. Virtual reality teaching aids are already been used by the Scholars’ Lab’s Arin Bennett to teach “virtual reality creation to students in emeritus professor Phyllis Leffler’s course, ‘History, Museums and Interpretation.’”