In the News: Prof. Stephen Fai discusses CIMS project on CBC

Professor Stephen Fai appeared on CBC’s All in a Day to discuss a Carleton Immersive Media Studio (CIMS) project that is building an interactive virtual replica of the National Arts Centre, including a digital archive of its history.

 It’s expected to be available online this fall.
Listen on CBC →

“We’ve captured pretty much everything except things like offices,” Dr. Fai, director of CIMS, told interviewer Alan Neal in a broadcast aired on August. 16.

 “All of the major spaces are there to a very high level of detail,” he says. “We’ve also captured all of the in-situ artworks. Also, a lot of the artifacts that are currently in the archive at the NAC, which are not available to the public.”

Celebrating 50+ years of the National Arts Centre (NAC) in Ottawa, the NAC@50+ project is bringing the rich history of the NAC to the public through an interactive storytelling experience, exploring ideas of how a national historic site can take a digital form.

Users will be able to experience the NAC from its conception, through its evolution, and into the present.

The project started in 2020 when CIMS was awarded a two-year Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Partnership Development Grant for their proposal NAC@50+ – Redefining a National Historic Site.