Emma Ross (T’ 2012) created the Visualizing Tahiti website for her honors thesis “Visualizing Enlightenment Exploration: The Case of Tahiti,” which evolved from a research project for the Maps, Art, and Empire independent study. Drawing from techniques and methods developed in the emerging fields of digital and spatial humanities, the project seeks to understand European visions of eighteenth century Tahiti promoted by both written and visual representations. Ross pursues three modes of visualization:
Visualizing Text: Spatial technologies map the movement of late eighteenth century explorers and their Tahitian counterparts around the islands and mark sites of interaction.
Visualizing Three-Dimensionally: Three-dimensional models recreate the structures built and encountered by Enlightenment explorers and provide comparison with drawings of the island circulated throughout Europe.
Visualizing Networks of Knowledge: Dynamic digital maps trace Joseph Banks’ extensive correspondence relating to Tahiti, Pacific exploration, and Captain James Cook.
In the video to the left, Ross walks through her 3D model of Fort Venus, created with Google Sketchup and Google Earth, at the DiVE (Duke immersive Virtual Enviroment):