Exploring New Ways of Seeing

ART 397 is a Special Topics in Art and Design course. This semester, I designed the course to introduce students to new ways of working and thinking. Project 2 (”Into the Scaniverse” as we called it in class) pushed students out of their comfort zone, challenging them to rethink how they use their mobile devices through Photogrammetry and Gaussian Splatting—tools they had never used before and, in many cases, didn’t realize their phones were capable of handling.

For this project, students digitally captured lesser-known cultural sites and artifacts in the UAE, transforming them into immersive 3D reconstructions. In this course—and for this assignment—the final output was not the primary focus. What mattered most was the experience of learning, experimenting, and discovering new creative possibilities.

I’m thrilled with what my students accomplished, but even more excited about how this process shifted their perspective on technology, design and cultural heritage.