Faculty Focus - Aidan Ackerman

03/25/2022

Do virtual forest experiences create increased empathy and engagement in the viewer? That's one of the questions you might want to ask ESF's Aidan Ackerman on March 31. He's one of the experts participating in the Arboreal Inquiries symposium, where he'll be answering a range of questions about forests and our relationships with them. If you want to register for this free event (it starts at 1 p.m. ET), click here.

Aidan, an assistant professor in ESF's Department of Landscape Architecture, works on projects that investigate the use of digital tools in landscape architecture analysis and design, specifically the simulation and visualization of natural phenomena. In his talk The Immersive Virtual Forest, he will share how a team of students, faculty, and staff in landscape architecture and forestry are creating immersive, hyper-realistic 'virtual forests' which can transport the viewer into a Northern Hardwood Forest typical of the Adirondack Forest region. Using video game design software combined with photogrammetry and algorithmic tree modeling, the team brings a living, dynamic forest to life.

When he's not in the classroom, Aidan works on cultural and historic landscape visualization projects through the ESF Center for Cultural Landscape Preservation and the Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation. Also, he and his graduate students create digital landscape graphics and simulations in collaboration with project partners including the National Parks Service.

We're proud to have Aidan at ESF working to preserve the past while designing the future.