City of Uruk 3000 B.C. : using genetic algorithms, dynamic planning and crowd simulation to re-enact everyday life of ancient Sumerians

Virtual reality reconstructions of ancient historical sites have become a valuable technique for popularising science and visualising expert knowledge to general audiences. Most such reconstructions only re-create buildings and artefacts and place them in the context of the virtual environment, but what is often missing in such simulations is the ability to see how ancient people lived their daily life in these environments. Our presented case study shows how the use of genetic algorithms and simulation of physiological needs helped us to populate the 3D reconstruction of the city of Uruk with a large crowd of intelligent agents simulating daily life of ancient Sumerians in Uruk

Acoustic Atlas - Auralisation in the Browser

The Acoustic Atlas project, funded by the European Commission, explores a new model for experiencing scientific acoustic heritage data in the form of room impulse responses (RIRs), as real-time auralisations. The browser-based Web Audio application functions on any smart mobile device or computer running a web browser. It utilises the built-in microphone and headphone output of the device to transport the user to a selected heritage site via headphones and a live microphone feed. Users are able to emit sounds to hear the reflections from a first-person point of hearing. Researchers in the field of heritage acoustics have advocated for the importance of acoustical studies and their historical, artistic and spiritual value. However, heritage sites still prioritise dissemination through visual means, such as maps, 3D models, photographs and videos. Where acoustic research is available, it is mostly published in text form through the analysis of objective acoustical parameters. When attempting to access auralisations, the search becomes difficult and fragmented. Acoustic Atlas provides real-time auralisations to wide audiences, beyond those already working in the field of heritage acoustics and, as a result, contributes to the awareness of the importance of listening and the preservation of sonic heritage. The present paper explores the web architecture of the project that utilises the Web Audio API and Tone.js which currently enables auralisations at acceptable latency. It also looks into achieving synchronisation between B-format RIRs and 360 head positioning in the browser, in real-time

Chapter 12: Perception in Instructional Message Design

This chapter aims to discuss perception from various academic disciplines and its relations and effects on information processing in instructional message design. Improved awareness of this concept assists instructional designers in conveying their message effectively and improves effective instruction in immersive learning environments. In this chapter, Gestalt, neurological, ecological, and computational perspectives and processes on perception are first discussed and followed by applications in instructional message design and instructional design

La recreación de una escena urbana medieval con personajes inteligentes: pasos para crear el escenario completo

[EN] From historical advice to 3D modeling and programming, the process of reconstructing cultural heritage sites populated with virtual inhabitants is lengthy and expensive, and it requires a large set of skills and tools. These constraints make it increasingly difficult, however not unattainable, for small archaeological sites to build their own simulations. In this article, we describe our attempt to minimize this scenario. We describe a framework that makes use of free tools or campus licenses and integrates the curricular work of students in academia. We present the details of methods and tools used in the pipeline of the construction of the virtual simulation of the medieval village of Mértola in the south of Portugal. We report on: a) the development of a lightweight model of the village, including houses and terrain, and b) its integration in a game engine in order to c) include a virtual population of autonomous inhabitants in a simulation running in real-time.[ES] El proceso de reconstrucción en 3D de lugareshistóricospoblados con habitantes virtuales es complejo, y requiere de un gran conjunto de habilidades y herramientas. Estos procesos incluyen elasesoramiento histórico, el modelado 3D, ola programación y estas limitaciones hacen que sea muy difícil construir sus propias simulacionesenpequeños equipos arqueológicos. En este artículo, describimos nuestro intento de minimizar este escenario. Se describe cómo integramos el trabajo curricular de los estudiantes en la academia, haciendouso de herramientas libres olicencias de campus. Se presentan los detalles de los métodos y de las herramientas utilizadas en el processo de construcción de la simulación virtual del pueblo medieval de Mértola, en el sur de Portugal. Se presenta: a)el desarrollo de los modelos ligeros 3D en el pueblo, incluyendo las habitaciones y el terreno, yb) su integración en unmotor de juego con el fin de c)incluir la población virtual de habitantes autónomos, en una simulación que pueda ser ejecutadaen tiempo real.This project was funded by the Horizon 2020: EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation under Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 655226 (fellowship to Dr. Rui Filipe Antunes). We knowledge the support of BioISI R&D unit (UID/MULTI/04046/2013), Portugal, the information provided by the team of Campo Arqueológico de Mértola and the students that produced the models and scenarios. Proofreading by Piki Productions.Cláudio, AP.; Carmo, MB.; De Carvalho, AA.; Xavier, W.; Antunes, RF. (2017). Recreating a medieval urban scene with virtual intelligent characters: steps to create the complete scenario. Virtual Archaeology Review. 8(17):31-41. https://doi.org/10.4995/var.2017.6557SWORD314181

Recreating a medieval urban scene with virtual intelligent characters: steps to create the complete scenario

From historical advice to 3D modeling and programming, the process of reconstructing cultural heritage sites populated with virtual inhabitants is lengthy and expensive, and it requires a large set of skills and tools. These constraints make it increasingly difficult, however not unattainable, for small archaeological sites to build their own simulations. In this article, we describe our attempt to minimize this scenario. We describe a framework that makes use of free tools or campus licenses and integrates the curricular work of students in academia. We present the details of methods and tools used in the pipeline of the construction of the virtual simulation of the medieval village of Mértola in the south of Portugal. We report on: a) the development of a lightweight model of the village, including houses and terrain, and b) its integration in a game engine in order to c) include a virtual population of autonomous inhabitants in a simulation running in real-time

Lost cities as a virtual experience: the example of pre-earthquake Lisbon

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

How are Australian higher education institutions contributing to change through innovative teaching and learning in virtual worlds?

Over the past decade, teaching and learning in virtual worlds has been at the forefront of many higher education institutions around the world. The DEHub Virtual Worlds Working Group (VWWG) consisting of Australian and New Zealand higher education academics was formed in 2009. These educators are investigating the role that virtual worlds play in the future of education and actively changing the direction of their own teaching practice and curricula. 47 academics reporting on 28 Australian higher education institutions present an overview of how they have changed directions through the effective use of virtual worlds for diverse teaching and learning activities such as business scenarios and virtual excursions, role-play simulations, experimentation and language development. The case studies offer insights into the ways in which institutions are continuing to change directions in their teaching to meet changing demands for innovative teaching, learning and research in virtual worlds. This paper highlights the ways in which the authors are using virtual worlds to create opportunities for rich, immersive and authentic activities that would be difficult or not possible to achieve through more traditional approaches

How are Australian higher education institutions contributing to change through innovative teaching and learning in virtual worlds?

Over the past decade, teaching and learning in virtual worlds has been at the forefront of many higher education institutions around the world. The DEHub Virtual Worlds Working Group (VWWG) consisting of Australian and New Zealand higher education academics was formed in 2009. These educators are investigating the role that virtual worlds play in the future of education and actively changing the direction of their own teaching practice and curricula. 47 academics reporting on 28 Australian higher education institutions present an overview of how they have changed directions through the effective use of virtual worlds for diverse teaching and learning activities such as business scenarios and virtual excursions, role-play simulations, experimentation and language development. The case studies offer insights into the ways in which institutions are continuing to change directions in their teaching to meet changing demands for innovative teaching, learning and research in virtual worlds. This paper highlights the ways in which the authors are using virtual worlds to create opportunities for rich, immersive and authentic activities that would be difficult or not possible to achieve through more traditional approaches. © 2011 Brent Gregory, Sue Gregory, Denise Wood, Yvonne Masters, Mathew Hillier, Frederick Stokes-Thompson, Anton Bogdanovych, Des Butler, Lyn Hay, Jay Jay Jegathesan, Kim Flintoff, Stefan Schutt,Dale Linegar, Robyn Alderton, Andrew Cram, Ieva Stupans, Lindy McKeown Orwin, Grant Meredith, Debbie McCormick, Francesca Collins, Jenny Grenfell, Jason Zagami, Allan Ellis, Lisa Jacka, Angela Thomas, Helen Farley, Nona Muldoon, Ali Abbas, Suku Sinnappan, Katrina Neville, Ian Burnett, Ashley Aitken, Simeon Simoff, Sheila Scutter, Xiangyu Wang, Kay Souter, David Ellis, Mandy Salomon, Greg Wadley, Michael Jacobson, Anne Newstead, Gary Hayes, Scott Grant, Alyona Yusupova

3D digitalizacija i vizualizacija kulturne baštine

Informacijske i komunikacijske tehnologije su napravile ogroman pomak u istraživanjima u području humanističkih znanosti, informacijske znanosti su potpuno suživljene sa informacijskim i komunikacijskim tehnologijama. Stoga je digitalizacija u AKM institucijama sasvim prirodan slijed dešavanja, odgovor na društvene i komunikacijske projmene koje su počele još u prošlom stoljeću. Digitalizacija i vizualizacija nepokretnih kulturnih dobara zanimljivo je područje zbog niza faktora koji otežava digitalizaciju a samim tim i vizualizaciju. Konstantno se rađaju nove ideje stvaranja 3D digitalnih modela i prikupljanja informacija (fotografija i oblaka točaka), primjerice terestrički, laserski skeneri koji rade na principu kombiniranja udaljenosti s dva unutarnja kutna mjerenja rotirajućih ogledala skenera, nakon čega se može odrediti sferni koordinatni sustav centriran na skener i bilo koja točka na površini objekta može se snimiti pomoću ovog sfernog koordinatnog sustava. Vizualizacija kulturne baštine svakodnevno odlazi korak dalje za svijetom igrica, te kombiniranjem stvarnosti, virtualne stvarnosti i proširene stvarnosti kreira sasvim nova iskustva za korisnika.Information and communication technologies have made a huge breakthrough in research in the field of humanities, information science is fully involved in information and communication technologies. Therefore digitization in AKM institutions is a very natural sequence of events, the response to social and communication projects that started in the last century. Digitization and visualization of architectural heritage is an interesting area due to a number of factors that make digitization difficult and with team and visualization. Constantly creating new ideas for creating 3D digital models and collecting information (photos and point clouds), eg terrestrial laser scanners working on the principle of combination of distance with two internal angular measurements of rotating reflecting scanners, after which a functional coordinate system centered on the scanner can be determined any point on the surface of the object can be recorded using this punctual coordinate system. Visualization of cultural heritage goes on to the world of gaming every day, combining reality, virtual reality and expanded reality creates a whole new experience for the users