Between the Real and the Virtual: 3D visualization in the Cultural Heritage domain - expectations and prospects

<p>The paper discusses two uses of 3D Visualization and Virtual Reality (hereafter VR) of Cultural Heritage (CH) assets: a less used one, in the archaeological / historical research and a more frequent one, as a communication medium in CH museums. While technological effort has been mainly invested in improving the “accuracy” of VR (determined as how truthfully it reproduces the “CH reality”), issues related to scientific requirements, (data transparency, separation between “real” and “virtual”, etc.), are largely neglected, or at least not directly related to the 3D outcome, which may explain why, after more than twenty years of producing VR models, they are still rarely used in the archaeological research. The paper will present a proposal for developing VR tools as such as to be meaningful CH research tools as well as a methodology for designing VR outcomes to be used as a communication medium in CH museums.</p>

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Revealing Hidden Local Cultural Heritage through a Serious Escape Game in Outdoor Settings

Information ◽

10.3390/info12010010 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 10

Author(s):

Stavroula Tzima ◽

Georgios Styliaras ◽

Athanasios Bassounas

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

Augmented Reality ◽

Cultural Heritage ◽

Physical Environment ◽

Local History ◽

Educational Context ◽

Virtual Reality Technology ◽

The Real ◽

Hybrid Type ◽

Game Mechanics

Escape Rooms are presently considered a very popular social entertainment activity, with increasing popularity in education field, since they are considered capable of stimulating the interest of players/students and enhancing learning. The combined game mechanics have led to blended forms of Escape Rooms, the Serious Escape Games (SEGs) and the hybrid type of Escape Rooms that uses Augmented Reality (AR)/Virtual Reality technology, a type that is expected to be widely used in the future. In the current study, the MillSecret is presented, a multi-player Serious Escape Game about local cultural heritage, where the players must solve a riddle about the cultural asset of watermills. MillSecret uses AR technology and it was designed to be conducted in the real-physical environment and in an informal educational context. The paper describes the game, its implementation, the playing process, and its evaluation, which aimed to study the feasibility of game conduction in outdoor settings and the views and experience of players with the game, the local cultural heritage and local history. Evaluation results reveal, among other findings, a very positive first feedback from players that allows us to further evolve the development of the game.

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3D Visualization and Virtual Reality for Cultural Heritage Diagnostic

Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography - Innovations in 3D Geo Information Systems ◽

10.1007/978-3-540-36998-1_48 ◽

2006 ◽

pp. 629-639

Author(s):

L. Colizzi ◽

F. De Pascalis ◽

F. Fassi

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

Cultural Heritage ◽

3D Visualization

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The Virtual Site Museum: A Multi-Purpose, Authoritative, and Functional Virtual Heritage Resource

Presence Teleoperators & Virtual Environments ◽

10.1162/pres.15.3.245 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 15 (3) ◽

pp. 245-261 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Young-Seok Kim ◽

Thenkurussi Kesavadas ◽

Samuel M Paley

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

Cultural Heritage ◽

Real Time ◽

Virtual Environment ◽

Archaeological Site ◽

Archaeological Research ◽

Research Education ◽

Figure Animation ◽

Public Demonstration ◽

Full Body

The Virtual Site Museum is an interactive virtual reality interface for various purposes including archaeological research, education, and public demonstration. Its virtual environment contains precise, authoritative, and integrated archaeological and historical files culled from published and unpublished excavation records and the various art museums, which preserve artifacts from the real archaeological site. Running in real-time, it provides full-body immersion, 3D ancient figure animation, and a virtual artifacts interface and corresponding user-oriented interactions in a functional virtual environment. The first of the sites to be documented in the Virtual Site Museum was the Northwest Palace of King Ashurnasirpal II (883–859 bc), located in northeastern Iraq, a famous Assyrian world heritage archaeological site. In this paper we describe how we applied Virtual Reality (VR) to a cultural heritage in peril, and how we are adapting previously generated PC versions to UNIX platforms. We also explain our experiences and achievements in archaeological research and classroom accessibility.

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Interrogating Social Virtual Reality as a Communication Medium for Older Adults

Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction ◽

10.1145/3359251 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (CSCW) ◽

pp. 1-24 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Steven Baker ◽

Ryan M. Kelly ◽

Jenny Waycott ◽

Romina Carrasco ◽

Thuong Hoang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Virtual Reality ◽

Communication Medium

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Editorial for Special Issue “Virtual Reality and Its Application in Cultural Heritage”

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app11041530 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 1530

Author(s):

Christos Fidas ◽

Stella Sylaiou

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

Cultural Heritage ◽

End Users ◽

Special Issue

Recent advancements in Virtual Reality (VR) technologies provide new opportunities for Cultural Heritage (CH) organizations to attract, engage, and support end-users more efficiently and effectively [...]

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Maribor Synagogue: Between Facts and Reinterpretation

Arts ◽

10.3390/arts9010005 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 5

Author(s):

Janez Premk

Keyword(s):

Cultural Heritage ◽

Central Europe ◽

Reference Point ◽

Scientific Publication ◽

Convincing Evidence ◽

Archaeological Research ◽

Architectural Elements ◽

Significant Step ◽

Visual Reconstruction ◽

Material Evidence

Maribor Synagogue is one of the few preserved medieval synagogues in Central Europe. The renovation of the building between 1992 and 1999, undertaken by the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, proved to be much more demanding than originally foreseen. Its architectural shell and architectural elements have served as a reference point for the (visual) reconstruction of related monuments in the wider region. However, the renovation itself has left numerous unanswered questions, especially in regard to the building phases during the Jewish and later Christian use of the building. The present article is the first scientific publication to thoroughly examine the medieval building phases, based on the findings of archaeological research and investigation of the documented and preserved architectural elements. Ground plans are attached for the initial two building phases, related to the archeological charts. The last phase corresponds to the reconstructed version of the synagogue, but convincing evidence relating to its appearance is missing. Although it is practically impossible to provide an entirely accurate building history based on the archival, oral and material evidence so far available, a significant step toward its general comprehension is made.

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