The University of Richmond’s Distant Viewing Lab has been awarded a $1 million grant from the Mellon Foundation to expand access to artificial intelligence tools for digital humanities research.
The three-year grant will support the lab’s efforts to share its open-source platforms, including the Distant Viewing Toolkit, with a broader range of users. The software allows researchers, educators, and cultural institutions to apply AI-powered computer vision models to large collections of visual media without requiring programming expertise or specialized equipment.
“Our goal is to eliminate technical barriers that often prevent participation in digital humanities research,” said Lauren Tilton, associate professor of digital humanities and co-director of the lab. “The toolkit empowers users to explore fundamental questions in visual culture studies, such as: How do elements like color, composition, and iconography change across time periods or regions? What patterns emerge when analyzing thousands of images or films from museum collections or archival materials?”
Founded by Tilton and Taylor Arnold, professor of data science and statistics, the Distant Viewing Lab develops computational methods to study film, photography, art, and other forms of visual culture at scale. The lab also emphasizes transparency in algorithmic research, engaging with critical cultural and data studies to examine how AI shapes interpretation.
The Mellon grant will expand the toolkit’s reach by funding training sessions, educational resources, new technical features, and a culminating conference at the University of Richmond. Library, archive, and museum professionals, as well as faculty and digital humanities scholars, are among the audiences the lab hopes to engage.
In addition to the toolkit, the lab maintains the Distant Viewing Explorer, a browser-based platform that lets users test AI models directly on visual collections, and Distant Viewing Scripts, a site with tutorials and Python-based code for more advanced applications. Both resources are free and open-source.
The Mellon Foundation has supported the Distant Viewing Lab in the past, alongside the National Endowment for the Humanities. The lab’s directors emphasize that this new award will help them scale up their commitment to accessibility and collaboration.
“All of the tools and educational materials we create will continue to be freely available on our website,” Tilton said. “We want to ensure that scholars, educators, and cultural institutions—regardless of technical background—can take advantage of these technologies to advance their work.”
With the grant, the Distant Viewing Lab hopes to strengthen the role of AI in the humanities while ensuring that it remains open, transparent, and inclusive.
