Viewing the Future? Virtual Reality In Journalism

Journalism underwent a flurry of virtual reality content creation, production and distribution starting in the final months of 2015. The New York Times distributed more than 1 million cardboard virtual reality viewers and released an app showing a spherical video short about displaced refugees. The Los Angeles Times landed people next to a crater on Mars. USA TODAY took visitors on a ride-along in the "Back to the Future" car on the Universal Studios lot and on a spin through Old Havana in a bright pink '57 Ford. ABC News went to North Korea for a spherical view of a military parade and to Syria to see artifacts threatened by war. The Emblematic Group, a company that creates virtual reality content, followed a woman navigating a gauntlet of anti- abortion demonstrators at a family planning clinic and allowed people to witness a murder-suicide stemming from domestic violence.In short, the period from October 2015 through February 2016 was one of significant experimentation with virtual reality (VR) storytelling. These efforts are part of an initial foray into determining whether VR is a feasible way to present news. The year 2016 is shaping up as a period of further testing and careful monitoring of potential growth in the use of virtual reality among consumers

Parametric Surfaces for Augmented Architecture representation

Augmented Reality (AR) represents a growing communication channel, responding to the need to expand reality with additional information, offering easy and engaging access to digital data. AR for architectural representation allows a simple interaction with 3D models, facilitating spatial understanding of complex volumes and topological relationships between parts, overcoming some limitations related to Virtual Reality. In the last decade different developments in the pipeline process have seen a significant advancement in technological and algorithmic aspects, paying less attention to 3D modeling generation. For this, the article explores the construction of basic geometries for 3D model’s generation, highlighting the relationship between geometry and topology, basic for a consistent normal distribution. Moreover, a critical evaluation about corrective paths of existing 3D models is presented, analysing a complex architectural case study, the virtual model of Villa del Verginese, an emblematic example for topological emerged problems. The final aim of the paper is to refocus attention on 3D model construction, suggesting some "good practices" useful for preventing, minimizing or correcting topological problems, extending the accessibility of AR to people engaged in architectural representation

Developing serious games for cultural heritage: a state-of-the-art review

Although the widespread use of gaming for leisure purposes has been well documented, the use of games to support cultural heritage purposes, such as historical teaching and learning, or for enhancing museum visits, has been less well considered. The state-of-the-art in serious game technology is identical to that of the state-of-the-art in entertainment games technology. As a result, the field of serious heritage games concerns itself with recent advances in computer games, real-time computer graphics, virtual and augmented reality and artificial intelligence. On the other hand, the main strengths of serious gaming applications may be generalised as being in the areas of communication, visual expression of information, collaboration mechanisms, interactivity and entertainment. In this report, we will focus on the state-of-the-art with respect to the theories, methods and technologies used in serious heritage games. We provide an overview of existing literature of relevance to the domain, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the described methods and point out unsolved problems and challenges. In addition, several case studies illustrating the application of methods and technologies used in cultural heritage are presented

A Changing Dynamic: The Business-to-Individual Relationship

As the Digital Revolution sweeps the world over, modern marketing strategies have had to adapt and change. Power has shifted from brands into the hands of consumers. This paper explores how this relationship is changing, and offers a glimpse of how this new relationship manifests itself in two forms of digital marketing strategy: the digitization of the in-store experience and the gamification of the modern day loyalty program. These strategies are intended to enhance the consumer experience and ensure that any interaction they have with the brand is a fulfilling one. This paper also discusses how digital technology has broken down the barriers of communication, leading to a global Digital Democracy based on democratic values and transparency of action. This demonstrates the power shift on a global, impactful scale

TOWARDS A DIGITAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL ARCHIVE: THE CASE STUDY OF THE ARTEFACTS OF THE AREA OF FORI IMPERIALI

Abstract. The following research aims to exploit the low-cost technologies, for the survey and mapping of historical archaeology in the Roman context. The main purposes of the research is to implement a large-scale survey campaign to understand the geometry and the materiality of the artefacts examined. Three-dimensional survey from photography, allows an immediate mapping of the materiality, of the degradation and of the architectural elements characteristic of the architecture in question. From the model it is possible to obtain an image that is faithful to the reality that can be the basis for developments in many disciplines such as, for example, in the restoration project, for the material analysis and the mapping of the degradation. The applications for this type of mapping are numerous, one of those proposed in this research concerns the virtual musealisation of historical artifacts. More and more in recent years, museums are exploiting the capabilities of three-dimensional modeling software of architectural elements to interactively convey architectural elements. A methodology of work that in recent archaeological excavations is not based solely on the didactic divulgation of the history of a place, but during the excavation phase on the mapping and cataloging of uncovered finds.</p

Exploring multimedia and interactive technologies

The goal of multimedia design strategies and innovation is to produce meaningful learning environments that relate to and build upon what the learner already knows and what the learner seeks. The multimedia tools used to achieve knowledge transfer should activate recall or prior knowledge and help the learner alter and encode new structures. Traditionally, multimedia has been localized to specific delivery systems and demographics based on the government, industry, or academic concentration. The presenter will explore the introduction of immersive telecommunications technologies, constructivist learning methodologies, and adult learning models to standardize networking and multimedia-based services and products capable of adapting to wired and wireless environments, different devices and conditions on a global scale