Ball State’s IDIA Lab Uses Digital Tools to Bring Muncie’s Past Into the Present

Topics: Academic Programs, Arts and Culture, College of Architecture and Planning, Community Engagement, Faculty, Muncie, Students

September 19, 2026

Recent projects from Ball State University's Institute for Digital Intermedia Arts (IDIA) Lab are creating new ways to explore Muncie's past-reflecting IDIA Lab's ongoing use of digital technology to make local history more accessible to researchers, students, and the community.

During ArtsWalk on Oct. 1, visitors to downtown Muncie can experience one of those projects through Echoes of Muncie, an augmented reality experience featuring five historic buildings as they once appeared.

The experience allows users to view 3D digital reconstructions of the Wysor Grand Opera House, the historic Wysor Building, the old Delaware County Courthouse, and other structures at their former downtown locations via a smartphone app.

"Technology gives us new ways to engage with history," said John Fillwalk, senior director of the IDIA Lab. "Whether we're using augmented reality to reconstruct buildings that have disappeared from the landscape or digitally preserving access to records that tell us about the people who lived here, we are helping people see their community and their connection to it in a new way."

Produced in partnership with Muncie Downtown Development, Ball Brothers Foundation, and other community partners, Echoes of Muncie launched with three reconstructed buildings and has now expanded to include the Rivoli Theatre and the Ball Stores building. Visitors at designated downtown sites can use their mobile devices to see the historic structures overlaid on the present-day streetscape.

Another recent IDIA Lab project brings new life to a digital resource documenting Muncie's history. "What Middletown Read," a digital research database, grew out of the 2003 discovery of historic circulation ledgers at Muncie Public Library.

Dr. Frank Felsenstein, professor emeritus of English at Ball State, discovered the records. He and Dr. James Connolly, George and Frances Ball Distinguished Professor of History and the director of the Center for Middletown Studies, collaborated with Ball State University Libraries and the MPL to transform the ledgers into a searchable database that launched in 2011, allowing researchers to explore the reading habits of Muncie library patrons in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

As the original site's technology became obsolete and incompatible with current web and security standards, the Center for Middletown Studies turned to IDIA Lab to reconstruct the website and its extensive database search functionality. Over an intensive four-month development period, the IDIA Lab rebuilt the site's code and database functions, preserving its research capabilities while improving security, usability, and accessibility.

"Every detail was conceptualized and mapped out before any code was written, then tested and refined until the site was fully functional," said Dr. Michael Rhoades, lead HCI artist and digital researcher. "The original site took well over a year to create, so completing the reconstruction in four months was a significant undertaking."

The reconstruction ensures that a resource more than two decades in the making remains available for continued research and exploration. The database offers a detailed look at the reading habits of Muncie library patrons in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, revealing not only what people read but also glimpses of how books and ideas circulated within the community.

"These records give us an unusual window into the everyday lives of people who lived in Muncie more than a century ago," said Dr. Connolly. "We can see what interested them, what entertained them, and even hints of how they shared ideas. The work by IDIA Lab ensures that researchers, students, and community members can continue exploring those stories."

"What Middletown Read," which is a collaboration between Ball State's Center for Middletown Studies, the Muncie Public Library, and Ball State's University Libraries, received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). In 2015, the project was selected by the NEH as one of 50 exemplary projects funded during the agency's first 50 years. Drs. Connolly and Felsenstein also used the research as the basis for their 2015 book, What Middletown Read.