Virtual 3D Environments: Implementations of 3D Environments for Virtual Tours and Online Communication

Virtual tours can be found over the web in many different scenarios: touring a campus, displaying consumer products, documenting a trip. These tours provide information using images, movies and sound to provide users with navigation in such a way that they user feels they are experiencing the information in real time. These tours are usually driven by mouse clicks, whether it is clicking on an image gallery, movie gallery or panning around a panoramic image. While virtual tours are interactive in those examples, there is a lack of interaction be tween the users viewing the tour. Online communication has become a substitution for the tradition interaction between people due to its ease of accessibility. These range from customizable avatars and custom messages to real time movement within an environment. This gives the user the ability to make a virtual persona; a way to experience a realistic interaction online. I will try to create a virtual tour that expands on previous virtual tour concepts and provide users with a virtual representation of an environment with different forms of interaction and communication. My thesis is an exploration in designing a completely web based interactive tour with the purpose of teaching the user about the Computer Graphics Design program at the Rochester Institute of Technology while providing the user with a virtual re-creation of the program’s computer lab in hopes of bringing a more interactive approach to virtual tours. Divided into 3 sections, this thesis provides the user the option to choose their avatar, chat with other users and explore the program’s lab to learn about the program

Narrative approaches to design multi-screen augmented reality experiences

This paper explores how traditional narrative language used in film and theatre can be adapted to create interactivity and a greater sense of presence in the virtual heritage environment. It focuses on the fundamental principles of narrative required to create immersion and presence and investigates methods of embedding intangible social histories into these environments. These issues are explored in a case study of Greens Mill in the 1830’s, interweaving the story of the reform bill riots in Nottingham with the life of George Green, mathematician and proprietor of the Mill

Updating the art history curriculum: incorporating virtual and augmented reality technologies to improve interactivity and engagement

Master's Project (M.Ed.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2017This project investigates how the art history curricula in higher education can borrow from and incorporate emerging technologies currently being used in art museums. Many art museums are using augmented reality and virtual reality technologies to transform their visitors' experiences into experiences that are interactive and engaging. Art museums have historically offered static visitor experiences, which have been mirrored in the study of art. This project explores the current state of the art history classroom in higher education, which is historically a teacher-centered learning environment and the learning effects of that environment. The project then looks at how art museums are creating visitor-centered learning environments; specifically looking at how they are using reality technologies (virtual and augmented) to transition into digitally interactive learning environments that support various learning theories. Lastly, the project examines the learning benefits of such tools to see what could (and should) be implemented into the art history curricula at the higher education level and provides a sample section of a curriculum demonstrating what that implementation could look like. Art and art history are a crucial part of our culture and being able to successfully engage with it and learn from it enables the spread of our culture through digital means and of digital culture

Art museums and the incorporation of virtual reality: Examining the impact of VR on spatial and social norms

Art museums implicate established spatial and social norms. The norms that shape these behaviours are not fixed, but rather subject to change as the sociality and physicality of these spaces continues to develop. In recent years, the re-emergence of virtual reality (VR) has led to this technology being incorporated into art museums in the form of VR-based exhibits. While a growing body of research now explores the various applications, uses and effects of VR, there is a notable dearth of studies examining the impact VR might be having on the spatial and social experience of art museums. This article, therefore, reports on an original research project designed to address these concerns. The project was conducted at Anise Gallery in London, United Kingdom, between June and July 2018 and focused on the multisensory, and VR-based, exhibition, Scents of Shad Thames. The research involved 19 semi-structured interviews with participants who had just experienced this exhibition. Drawing on scholarly literature that surrounds the spatial and social norms pertaining to art museums, this study advances along three lines. First, the research explores whether the inclusion of VR might alter the practice of people watching, which is endemic of this setting. Second, the research explores whether established ways of navigating the physical setting of art museums might influence how users approach the digital space of VR. Third, the research examines whether the incorporation of VR might produce a qualitatively different experience of the art museum as a shared social space

VIRTUAL URBAN GALLERY: An immersive installation based on 3D remote experiences of Toronto Public Art

Public art is important not only for its aesthetic appearance, but also for its contribution to and reflection of the history and culture of the city it inhabits. However, given the intimate connection between public art and its social and geographical contexts, it is not possible to build a physical gallery for public art; the only way to display such artworks together is virtually. Virtual Reality technology provides new opportunities for audiences to experience public art in its social and spatial contexts. This thesis investigates the use of VR to create an interactive virtual gallery of public art in Toronto. This work is an attempt to utilize 3D modeling of public arts and the areas surrounding them, along with an immersive and exploratory interactive experience, to curate a virtual gallery that allows audiences to appreciate and interact with public artworks in an embodied way

Promising Beginning? Evaluating Museum Mobile Phone Apps

Since 2009 museums have started introducing mobile apps in their range of interpretative media and visitor services. As mobile technology continues to develop and permeate all aspects of our life, and the capabilities of smart phones increase while they become more accessible and popular, new possibilities arise for cultural institutions to exploit these tools for communicating in new ways and promoting their exhibitions and programmes. The use of mobile apps opens up new channels of communication between the cultural institution and the user, which extent to his or her personal space and go beyond the boundaries of the museum’s walls. The paper presents a survey carried out of mobile apps designed by art or cultural historical museums and analyses the wider issues which are raised by the findings. It discusses, among others, the kind of use these apps were designed to fulfil (e.g. the majority are guided tours to the permanent collections or to temporary exhibitions), the layering of content,and the type of user interaction and involvement they support

Museums and New Media Art

Investigates the relationship between new media art and museums