921 research outputs found
Digitally interpreting traditional folk crafts
The cultural heritage preservation requires that objects persist throughout time to continue to communicate an intended meaning. The necessity of computer-based preservation and interpretation of traditional folk crafts is validated by the decreasing number of masters, fading technologies, and crafts losing economic ground. We present a long-term applied research project on the development of a mathematical basis, software tools, and technology for application of desktop or personal fabrication using compact, cheap, and environmentally friendly fabrication devices, including '3D printers', in traditional crafts. We illustrate the properties of this new modeling and fabrication system using several case studies involving the digital capture of traditional objects and craft patterns, which we also reuse in modern designs. The test application areas for the development are traditional crafts from different cultural backgrounds, namely Japanese lacquer ware and Norwegian carvings. Our project includes modeling existing artifacts, Web presentations of the models, automation of the models fabrication, and the experimental manufacturing of new designs and forms
Recommended from our members
A new navigation paradigm for virtual reality: the guided visit through a virtual world
The three main navigation paradigms for virtual worlds, i.e., free navigation, automatic tours, and multiuser navigation show important limitations when dealing with guided visits that involve interactive cooperation among several users in 3D virtual worlds over the Internet. In this paper, we present our research into this issue and some important results. We propose a new navigation paradigm denominated guided visit through a virtual world, where the capacity of a user guiding several remote users through the virtual world is enriched with the capacity to dynamically interchange the role of guiding between the connected users. The user that acts as a guide moves freely through the virtual world, and his/her movements are reproduced by the browsers of the other guided users. We also present the architecture and the system we developed that implements this paradigm, as well as its integration in a working realworld application that demonstrates its use
Alternative Archaeological Representations within Virtual Worlds
Traditional VR methods allow the user to tour and view the virtual world from different perspectives. Increasingly, more interactive and adaptive worlds are being generated, potentially allowing the user to interact with and affect objects in the virtual world. We describe and compare four models of operation that allow the publisher to generate views, with the client manipulating and affecting specific objects in the world. We demonstrate these approaches through a problem in archaeological visualization
Gulliver project: performers and visitors
This paper discusses two projects in our research environment. The Gulliver
project, an ambitious project conceived by some artists connected to our
research efforts, and the Aveiro-project, as well ambitious, but with goals
that can be achieved beause of technological developments, rather than be
dependent on artistic and 'political' (read: financial) sources. Both projects
are on virtual and augmented reality. The main goal is to design inhabited
environments, where 'inhabited' refers to autonomous agents and agents that
represent humans, realtime or off-line, visiting the virtual environment and
interacting with other agents. The Gulliver environment has been designed by
two artists: Matjaz Stuk and Alena Hudcovicova. The Aveiro project is a research
effort of a group of researchers trying to design models of intelligence and
interaction underlying the behavior of (groups of) agents inhabiting virtual
worlds. In this paper we survey the current state of both projects and we
discuss current and future attempts to have music performances by virtual and
real performers in these environments
Talk your way round: a speech interface to a virtual museum
Purpose: To explore the development of a speech interface to a Virtual World and to consider its relevance for disabled users. Method: The system was developed using mainly software that is available at minimal cost. How well the system functioned was assessed by measuring the number of times a group of users with a range of voices had to repeat commands in order for them to be successfully recognised. During an initial session, these users were asked to use the system with no instruction to see how easy this was. Results: Most of the spoken commands had to be repeated less than twice on average for successful recognition. For a set of âteleportationâ commands this figure was higher (2.4), but it was clear why this was so and could easily be rectified. The system was easy to use without instruction. Comments on the system were generally positive. Conclusions: While the system has some limitations, a Virtual World with a reasonably reliable speech interface has been developed almost entirely from software which is available at minimal cost. Improvements and further testing are considered. Such a system would clearly improve access to Virtual Reality technologies for those without the skills or physical ability to use a standard keyboard and mouse. It is an example of both Assistive Technology and Universal Design
Building Huys Hengelo in VRML
In this paper we report about our attempts to rebuild a historical building, âHuys Hengeloâ, its interior, a farm built next to it and other parts of its environment (including a draw-bridge and a gate) using the Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML). This castle building played an important role in the history of its region. The main issues we deal with in this paper are: the unreliability of available sources â forcing us to show alternatives rather than âthe building as it wasâ, the possibility to allow users to make changes and to experiment with different geographies, animations showing how parts of the wooden buildings were constructed during that time, the interface with the user and, as the project started as a student project on the request of some local historians and architects, some of our experiences with the co-operation between them and computer science students and researchers
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
Serious Games in Cultural Heritage
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
Reanimating cultural heritage through digital technologies
Digital technologies are becoming extremely important for web-based cultural heritage applications. This thesis presents novel digital technology solutions to 'access and interact' with digital heritage objects and collections. These innovative solutions utilize service orientation (web services), workflows, and social networking and Web 2.0 mashup technologies to innovate the creation, interpretation and use of collections dispersed in a global museumscape, where community participation is achieved through social networking.
These solutions are embedded in a novel concept called Digital Library Services for Playing with Shared Heritage (DISPLAYS). DISPLAYS is concerned with creating tools and services to implement a digital library system, which allows the heritage community and museum professionals alike to create, interpret and use digital heritage content in visualization and interaction environments using web technologies based on social networking. In particular, this thesis presents a specific implementation of DISPLAYS called the Reanimating Cultural Heritage system, which is modelled on the five main functionalities or services defined in the DISPLAYS architecture, content creation, archival, exposition, presentation and interaction, for handling digital heritage objects.
The main focus of this thesis is the design of the Reanimating Cultural Heritage system's social networking functionality that provides an innovative solution for integrating community access and interaction with the Sierra Leone digital heritage repository composed of collections from the British Museum, Glasgow Museums and Brighton Museum and Art Gallery. The novel use of Web 2.0 mashups in this digital heritage repository also allows the seamless integration of these museum collections to be merged with user or community generated content, while preserving the quality of museum collections data.
Finally, this thesis tests and evaluates the usability of the Reanimating Cultural Heritage social networking system, in particular the suitability of the digital technology solution deployed. Testing is performed with a user group composed of several users, and the results obtained are presented
- âŚ