[INTERN] Met Museum MediaLab – Sept 5th Application Deadline

Fall 2013 intern requests.
CONTACT:  Don.Undeen@metmuseum.org

1. Color the Temple:

Most Met visitors are familiar with the famous Temple of Dendur, a first-century BC Egyptian temple, constructed under Caesar Augustus, in honor of the god Isis (http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/547802) . While the temple appears in our museum as a beige sandstone monument, what many are not aware of is that the temple was originally brightly painted both inside and out. We’re looking for a an intern experienced with 3D modeling, projection mapping, and/or augmented reality, to work with our egyptian experts on virtually re-applying the color to the temple. Imagine dimming the lights in the gallery and lighting up the temple in all its multi-colored splendor. Or holding up your smartphone or tablet to see how the temple looked when it was first constructed. Help us make this a reality! We’ll have a curatorial fellow in-house this semester, so this is a one-time opportunity to bring together these specialities.

2. Computer vision: image recognition and feature detection of and in art objects

Let’s teach our future machine overlords to appreciate art! Quality image recognition and feature detection could fuel a variety of innovations in art museum technology, and is already playing a major role in tech-based art. At the Met we want to improve our ability to explore our images using advanced cv algorithms, for scholarly, entertainment, and artistic purposes. A CV intern at the Met will have access to our large data and image sets, as well as humanoid art experts to validate your machine’s learning.

3. Indoor Locative Technology

In a large, confusing space like the Met, it’s easy to get lost, and sometimes hard to find the objects you’re looking for. Indoor locative technology is making strides, but what’s the current state of the art, and how could it work in our building? What kinds of experiences or interfaces might you build around a particular locative technology, taking into account its capabilities and restrictions. An indoor locative intern will explore these questions, through conversations with exhibition designers, museum interaction specialists, and curatorial staff.

4. 3D Design and Printing

The Met is continuing its exploration of 3D scanning printing, especially as it relates to how it can inspire new creative works. Come hang out in our galleries, talk to curators and conservators, and create new works based on our collection. Interns will be exposed to NY 3D printing industries, the latest hardware and software, and have the opportunity to share their work and get feedback on it from Met staff.

4. Wildcard:

At the MediaLab, we understand that we can’t possibly keep tabs on all the latest trends and tech. If you’ve got an idea of your own for an internship, we’d love to hear it!

For all internships, our requirements are that code developed for intern projects be open-sourced and made available on Github or similar system, but ownership of code is retained by the intern, and permission will be given to the intern to use related Met data for educational, artistic, and fair-use purposes, and of course for class projects and shows. All internships will conclude with, at minimum, a presentation to Met staff, and a blog post on the Met’s Digital Media blog. These internships are unpaid, but can count as school credit.
Applications must be received no later than Friday, August 30th for course credit to be received.