The development of an accessibility indicator framework for analyzing online exhibitions: a pathway for social inclusion in museums' activities

[EN] Social inequalities brought up by welfare, racial, and geographic oppressions often determine whether a person has the possibility and the motivation to visit museums. Accessibility barriers also add another layer of distance between museums and people with disabilities. Although many museums have shown an effort to provide an accessible physical space, communicational and attitudinal aspects of access are less present – a concerning issue, especially when considering online activities. In face of the sanitary insecurity brought upon by the Covid-19 pandemic, online museums and exhibitions add up to the possibilities of creating and maintaining different audiences. Therefore, we must establish methods and tools to provide an accessible online museum space so that people from different backgrounds, including those with disabilities, may experience a barrier-free remote visit. In this context, our primary goal in this presentation is to introduce the process of developing the analytical tool “Accessibility Indicators for Online Exhibitions and Museums”, with a specific focus on the particularities of online museums and discuss its usability as a theoretical and practical framework. The instrument was adapted from the international guidelines, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1), and information gathered in the literature about accessibility in online environments and in museums. The work of Inacio (2017), with further development by Norberto Rocha et al. (2020, 2021), led to the publication of accessibility indicators and their application to investigate physical museums and the experience of visitors with disabilities. Although we identify common aspects of accessibility in physical and online museums, we understand that the specificities of online exhibitions need to be covered. The accessibility indicators for online exhibitions’ structure is composed of three indicators, each with two attributes. The first, “Design and navigability”, with the “Comfort, security and navigation flexibility” and “Access, manipulation and presentation flexibility” attributes, concerns the structure of the platform of the online exhibition and the action of scrolling through. The second, “Attitudinal”, with the “Inclusive practices, welcome and hosting” and “Institutional policy” attributes, concerns the efforts taken by the institution to include both visitors and professionals with disabilities. The third, “Communicational”, with the “Communication, and dissemination to a broad audience” and “Media and diverse resources to a plural communication” attributes, concerns informational and instructional aspects both internal and external to the online exhibition. Together, we believe that these indicators, as a tool, may provide a reference to the creation, update, and analysis of online exhibitions, aiming to improve museum access and education for a varied audience.[ES] Las desigualdades sociales provocadas por el bienestar, las opresiones raciales y geográficas a menudo determinan si una persona tiene la posibilidad y la motivación de visitar museos. Las barreras de accesibilidad también añaden otra capa de distancia entre los museos y las personas con discapacidad. Aunque muchos museos han mostrado un esfuerzo por proporcionar un espacio físico accesible, los aspectos comunicacionales y actitudinales del acceso están menos presentes, un tema preocupante, especialmente cuando se consideran las actividades online. Ante la inseguridad sanitaria provocada por la pandemia del Covid-19, los museos y exposiciones online se suman a las posibilidades de crear y mantener diferentes públicos. Por lo tanto, debemos establecer métodos y herramientas para proporcionar un espacio museístico online accesible para que las personas de diferentes orígenes, incluidas las personas con discapacidades, puedan experimentar una visita remota sin barreras. En este contexto, nuestro objetivo principal en esta presentación es introducir el proceso de desarrollo de la herramienta analítica "Indicadores de accesibilidad para las exposiciones y museos online", con un enfoque específico en las particularidades de los museos online y discutir su usabilidad como marco teórico y práctico. El instrumento fue adaptado de las directrices internacionales, las Directrices de Accesibilidad de Contenido Web (WCAG 2.1) y la información recopilada en la literatura sobre accesibilidad en entornos online y en museos. El trabajo de Inacio (2017), con mayor desarrollo de Norberto Rocha et al. (2020, 2021), llevó a la publicación de indicadores de accesibilidad y su aplicación para investigar los museos físicos y la experiencia de los visitantes con discapacidad. Aunque identificamos aspectos comunes de la accesibilidad en los museos físicos y online, entendemos que las especificidades de las exposiciones online deben cubrirse. La estructura de los indicadores de accesibilidad para las exposiciones online se compone de tres indicadores, cada uno con dos atributos. El primero, "Diseño y navegabilidad", con los atributos "Comodidad, seguridad y flexibilidad de navegación" y "Flexibilidad de acceso, manipulación y presentación", se refiere a la estructura de la plataforma de la exposición online y la acción de desplazarse. El segundo, "Actitudinal", con los atributos "Prácticas inclusivas, recepción y acogida" y "Política institucional", se refiere a los esfuerzos realizados por la institución para incluir tanto a los visitantes como a los profesionales con discapacidad. El tercero, "Comunicacional", con los atributos "Comunicación y difusión a un público amplio" y "Medios de comunicación y recursos diversos para una comunicación plural", se refiere a aspectos informativos e instructivos tanto internos como externos a la exposición en línea. Juntos, creemos que estos indicadores, como herramienta, pueden proporcionar una referencia a la creación, actualización y análisis de exposiciones online, con el objetivo de mejorar el acceso a los museos y la educación para un público variado.Letícia Marinho thanks CAPES for the master's degree grant supporting the Master’s in Communication of Science, Technology, and Health at Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Jessica Norberto Rocha thanks FAPERJ for the Young Scientist of Rio de Janeiro grant and CNPQ for the Productivity scholarship.Carvalho De Mattos Marinho, L.; Norberto Rocha, J. (2022). El desarrollo de indicadores de accesibilidad para el análisis de exposiciones online: un camino para la inclusión social en las actividades de los museos. En CIMED22 - II Congreso internacional de museos y estrategias digitales. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 209-219. https://doi.org/10.4995/CIMED22.2022.1556220921

A platform for developing and fine tuning adaptive 3D navigation techniques for the immersive web

Navigating through a virtual environment is one of the major user tasks in the 3D web. Although hundreds of interaction techniques have been proposed to navigate through 3D scenes in desktop, mobile and VR headset systems, 3D navigation still poses a high entry barrier for many potential users. In this paper we discuss the design and implementation of a test platform to facilitate the creation and fine-tuning of interaction techniques for 3D navigation. We support the most common navigation metaphors (walking, flying, teleportation). The key idea is to let developers specify, at runtime, the exact mapping between user actions and virtual camera changes, for any of the supported metaphors. We demonstrate through many examples how this method can be used to adapt the navigation techniques to various people including persons with no previous 3D navigation skills, elderly people, and people with disabilities.This work has been partially funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and FEDER under grant TIN2017-88515-C2-1-R, by EU Horizon 2020, JPICH Conservation, Protection and Use initiative (JPICH-0127) and the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación, grant PCI2020-111979 Enhancement of Heritage Experiences: the Middle Ages; Digital Layered Models of Architecture and Mural Paintings over Time (EHEM).Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Evolutionary fine-tuning of background-matching camouflage among geographical populations in the sandy beach tiger beetle

カワラハンミョウの体色が生息地の砂色とよく一致することを解明 --場所ごとに異なる保護色の進化過程を明らかに--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2020-12-17.Background-matching camouflage is a widespread adaptation in animals; however, few studies have thoroughly examined its evolutionary process and consequences. The tiger beetle Chaetodera laetescripta exhibits pronounced variation in elytral colour pattern among sandy habitats of different colour in the Japanese Archipelago. In this study, we performed digital image analysis with avian vision modelling to demonstrate that elytral luminance, which is attributed to proportions of elytral colour components, is fine-tuned to match local backgrounds. Field predation experiments with model beetles showed that better luminance matching resulted in a lower attack rate and corresponding lower mortality. Using restriction site-associated DNA (RAD) sequence data, we analysed the dispersal and evolution of colour pattern across geographical locations. We found that sand colour matching occurred irrespective of genetic and geographical distances between populations, suggesting that locally adapted colour patterns evolved after the colonization of these habitats. Given that beetle elytral colour patterns presumably have a quantitative genetic basis, our findings demonstrate that fine-tuning of background-matching camouflage to local habitat conditions can be attained through selection by visual predators, as predicted by the earliest proponent of natural selection

Archives, Access and Artificial Intelligence: Working with Born-Digital and Digitized Archival Collections

Digital archives are transforming the Humanities and the Sciences. Digitized collections of newspapers and books have pushed scholars to develop new, data-rich methods. Born-digital archives are now better preserved and managed thanks to the development of open-access and commercial software. Digital Humanities have moved from the fringe to the center of academia. Yet, the path from the appraisal of records to their analysis is far from smooth. This book explores crossovers between various disciplines to improve the discoverability, accessibility, and use of born-digital archives and other cultural assets

Archives, Access and Artificial Intelligence

Digital archives are transforming the Humanities and the Sciences. Digitized collections of newspapers and books have pushed scholars to develop new, data-rich methods. Born-digital archives are now better preserved and managed thanks to the development of open-access and commercial software. Digital Humanities have moved from the fringe to the center of academia. Yet, the path from the appraisal of records to their analysis is far from smooth. This book explores crossovers between various disciplines to improve the discoverability, accessibility, and use of born-digital archives and other cultural assets

Individuality and the collective in AI agents: Explorations of shared consciousness and digital homunculi in the metaverse for cultural heritage

The confluence of extended reality (XR) technologies, including augmented and virtual reality, with large language models (LLM) marks a significant advancement in the field of digital humanities, opening uncharted avenues for the representation of cultural heritage within the burgeoning metaverse. This paper undertakes an examination of the potentialities and intricacies of such a convergence, focusing particularly on the creation of digital homunculi or changelings. These virtual beings, remarkable for their sentience and individuality, are also part of a collective consciousness, a notion explored through a thematic comparison in science fiction with the Borg and the Changelings in the Star Trek universe. Such a comparison offers a metaphorical framework for discussing complex phenomena such as shared consciousness and individuality, illuminating their bearing on perceptions of self and awareness. Further, the paper considers the ethical implications of these concepts, including potential loss of individuality and the challenges inherent to accurate representation of historical figures and cultures. The latter necessitates collaboration with cultural experts, underscoring the intersectionality of technological innovation and cultural sensitivity. Ultimately, this chapter contributes to a deeper understanding of the technical aspects of integrating large language models with immersive technologies and situates these developments within a nuanced cultural and ethical discourse. By offering a comprehensive overview and proposing clear recommendations, the paper lays the groundwork for future research and development in the application of these technologies within the unique context of cultural heritage representation in the metaverse

Connecting AR and BIM: a Prototype App

This contribution discusses an ongoing project integrating information modeling and immersive tech nologies for the built space, in particular augmented reality (AR). We examined tools and procedures to quickly recognize the equipment present on telecommunication network sites and access the cor responding components on a digital information model. A first phase of the project, recently complet ed, produced an app prototype for mobile devices capable of showing a 1:1 scale AR representation on-site. The project highlights current limitations and opportunities in making the interaction between AR and building information modeling (BIM) technologies fully scalable

Archives, Access and Artificial Intelligence

Digital archives are transforming the Humanities and the Sciences. Digitized collections of newspapers and books have pushed scholars to develop new, data-rich methods. Born-digital archives are now better preserved and managed thanks to the development of open-access and commercial software. Digital Humanities have moved from the fringe to the center of academia. Yet, the path from the appraisal of records to their analysis is far from smooth. This book explores crossovers between various disciplines to improve the discoverability, accessibility, and use of born-digital archives and other cultural assets

Digital modes of interpretation of Pictish sculpture

Funding: Scottish Funding Council.Cultural heritage is no longer something that can only be experienced in a museum exhibition. Digital tools have facilitated the distribution of material relating to artefacts, both in its representation and in presenting its context. This paper describes how digital modelling techniques can be synthesised with 3D scanning to digitally restore artefacts and create authentic replicas of their original states. The digital artefacts can then be used to assist the process of interpreting these artefacts in diverse forms, both in the museum and outside the museum. The study looks at Pictish sculpture as a case-study, restoring 3D models of two stones, and creating varying opportunities for their interpretation. As part of this study, new interactive tools, a virtual reality environment, and a virtual tour are built to assist immersive interpretation of the Pictish sculpture. The application of these digitised objects serves as an opportunity for informal learning. These applications were evaluated during a drop-in session. Findings show that all participants enjoyed the immersive mode of learning with 89% also showing a willingness to learn more about the topic.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe