Virtual Reality in Cultural Heritage
- A prospect for today's archive
by Miriam McBride
About
This website is a complimentary part of my Master's thesis. I am hoping to highlight the developments in recent years of the consumer ready head mounted displays for virtual reality, and discuss their potential use in cultural heritage sites. Hopefully once you are able to understand the technology and see the interesting projects already underway, you will be able to imagine the possibilities of Virtual reality in relation to cultural heritage.
History of VR(Appendix 1)
The true origins of virtual reality are hard to trace, due to the ambiguity of what technologies generated an illusion immersive enough to constitute another ‘reality’.
Scientists have always enjoyed the idea of immersion inside a digital landscape, but until recently, the vision simply did not match the means. The closest modern ancestor of the modern Virtual Reality (VR) Head Mounted Displays (HMD) come from the fifties, When a handful of visionaries saw the possibility for “watching things on a screen that never ends” But the technology simply wasn't available. The chunky visuals of the past lead to unsatisfactory results, but a select few pursued the idea, especially the military, who have attempted to simulate war for years. When the PC boom began in the 80s and 90s, the idea of VR was again visited, with the excitement of the possibilities of computer generated images.
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The present day HMD began as a crowdfunded project in 2012. The ‘Oculus rift headset’ was then purchased by facebook in 2014. The consumer ready version was released last year in 2016 but a few pre production models were available for developers to purchase through crowdfunding; in order for them to develop complementary software and programs.
Presently, there are multiple large tech companies developing their own virtual reality HMD, with the main products commercially available being the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive/stream VR.
Oculus Rift
https://virtualrealitytimes.com/2017/04/02/full-list-of-best-vr-games-for-the-oculus-rift/
'Sensorama' 1962
By Minecraftpsyco - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47304870
Virtual reality in Entertainment (Appendix 2)
Fox Sports - VR live streaming
In 2016, Fox Sports live streamed a college football game in VR for the first time.
Ohio State and Oklahoma streamed live via Fox Sport’s new virtual reality app, which is available for iOS, Android, Gear VR and Oculus Rift.
The app offered viewers the ability to either watch the action from a “virtual suite” in the stadium, or switch between multiple on-field perspectives. There was also an option to watch the regular live stream within the VR, presumably to follow the action in a more directed way when you get tired of having to figure out where to look.
Now viewers are able to choose from a number of sporting events to watch in VR, including boxing and Car Racing. Giving viewers a front row seat, or on-track perspective gives VR the spectator edge over other platforms.
VR Gaming
The most popular VR game on steam (by number of positive reviews) is called ‘The Lab’. Game developers Valve who are responsible for the incredibly popular games ‘half-life’ and ‘portal’ created this VR experience to accompany the release of the HTC Vive. The game is made up of “eight completely unconnected VR games” which all showcase a different aspect of VR gameplay.
While ‘The Lab’ showcases the novelty of VR, and how kinetic aspects can now be incorporated into gaming, other games are using the experience of total immersion to creative visually stunning and emotive experiences. Games such as Adrift, The Climb, and Everest VR create VR worlds for you to get lost in.
Fox Sports VR Trailer
The Lab Trailer
Adr1ft Trailer
The Climb Trailer
Everest VR Game Play through
Learning With VR (appendix 3)
GE Neuro
Utilising this new technology’s immersive capabilities breathe new life into learning.
A team of neuroscientists at GE have used the technology to traverse the anatomy of the human brain.
One is able to download the game, titled ‘GE Nuro’ from steam’s online store and see inside the complex recess of the mind.
Remembering Pearl Harbor
Another game aimed at immersive learning is ‘Remembering Pearl Harbour’. This game was made In commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. TIME and LIFE VR attempt to take you back to that moment in history in this original historical virtual-reality project.
Told in three acts, the story is told through the point of view of Lt. James Downing, who at 103 is the second-oldest living American veteran to have witnessed that day.
Users hear from Downing, and interact with realistic virtual versions of artifacts, iconic photography and archival video to get a unique understanding of one of American history's defining moments
VR in Psychology (Appendix 4)
VR is being used in scientific experimentation, in 2012 a group of Psychologists tested the Efficacy of Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET) in the Treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The use of Information and Communication Technologies, such as virtual reality, has been employed in the treatment of anxiety disorders with the goal of augmenting exposure treatment, which is already considered to be the first-line treatment for PTSD.
This study concluded that VRET was in fact just as effective as traditional exposure therapy, and in some cases more effective due to some PTSD cases resisting the traditional method. VR allows for greater engagement from the patient, and consequently, greater activation of the traumatic memory, which is necessary for the extinction of the conditioned fear
Treating PTSD With Virtual Reality Therapy: A Way to Heal Trauma
Realities i.o (appendix 5)
Realities.io is a Berlin based VR developer specialising in photogrammetric techniques for creating realistic, high definition virtual space replicas of real places. Their virtual reality experience can be downloaded off Steam a popular game downloading website for free, which has recently integrated virtual reality games and experiences into its catalogue. Inside the program, you are transported to outer space, with an image of the earth in front of you. Using your controls you are able to manipulate the position of the earth, and choose one of the many places to visit. You are then transported into the scene, which has accompanying audio of background noise as well as narrative information. You are free to move around the scene, using your controls to change your point of view. There are virtual pamphlets lying around which once selected, relay both audio and visual information about the specific scene you inhabit.
Virtual Heritage
Recently, Realities has collaborated with German public-broadcasting institution WDR to turn one of Germany’s most iconic landmarks into a VR destination. The Cologne Cathedral, a UNESCO world heritage site is now available to visit from anywhere in the world, technology permitted. This virtual reality tour also includes part of the site that are not usually permitted to visitors, giving the VR experience an added sense of wonderment, when you are permitted into secret rooms and gated areas.
Realities I.O gameplay
Cologne Cathedral
Footage from 'inside' Realities
Contact:
realities.io inc
55 E 3rd Ave, San Mateo, CA, 94401
Thiemannstr. 1, 12059 Berlin Email: contact@realities.io
Virtual Dutchman (appendix 6)
The virtual dutchmen are a small virtual reality firm based in Wierden, The Netherlands. With Roelof Terpstra as Executive director, they custom make V.R experiences, games and places for their various contracted customers. In 2015, The Virtual Dutchmen were contracted by the Netherlands National Archive to “come up with an organized and intuitive method of presenting their archived photos to the public.” (http://www.virtualdutchmen.com/case/photopolis/) With over 10000 photos to be used in the project, the solution was to create a virtual city, named ‘Photopolis’ which displays and visualises the archived pictures in a virtual city landscape.
A very broad and brisk virtual diorama of a city was custom made for the exhibition ‘Blikvangers’ (Eye catchers). Guests could visit this virtual city and experience the 10.000 photos with the Oculus Rift. Users could highlight the individual buildings corresponding to the different subjects, which then shows additional information of that group of pictures.
The setup consisted of two seats which were placed opposite to each other in the exhibition room, each equipped with VR goggles (Oculus Rift DK2). The user was able to navigate through Photopolis using an Xbox 360 controller. The exhibition emerges the visitors in the photo collection in a inventive and new way of classifying and dividing information.
LiveTour5D: Battle of Waterloo in virtual reality
At the request of the Museum and visitor centre Memorial 1815 in Waterloo, LiveTour5D created an impressive battle in Virtual Reality. In a 6 square kilometre area, 180.000 soldiers aided by 40.000 horses and 1.500 canons fought an intense battle. The British-German coalition led by the Duke of Wellington managed to beat Napoleon de Bonaparte.
Live tour 5D is a company which offers visitors to historical sites the chance to immerse themselves in the historical events that took place where they stand. Live Tour 5D commissioned the Virtual Dutchmen to recreate the battle of waterloo in virtual reality. This experience is only a few minutes long, but when the headsets are worn, the visitor is able to see the battle unfold below them. Positioned on top of the hill, looking over the battlefield, the user is shown the exact scene inside VR, but this time, armies occupy the battlefield below, as the military steps take place. Being able to not only imagine history, but to be offered audio visual representations of past events, takes engagement to a new level with virtual reality. Since the launch on 17th June 2016 thousands of visitors have already enjoyed the 3-minute view using specially adapted headsets like virtual binoculars. The “1815 Experience” has drawn widespread interest from the press and the vast majority of users have rated the service as “very good” to “excellent
Photopolis
Big Art Ride #BigArtRide
In 2016 the virtual dutchmen collaborated with artist Rene van Engelenburg under the initiative of Europeana, in a virtual reality project to present european cultural heritage in an innovative and engaging way. The product of this collaboration was the Big Art Ride, a virtual city in which you can ride your bike, which is filled with european art and monuments. The setup consists of two stationary bicycles, that are connected to the virtual reality program, as well as HMDs. One bicycle was stationed in the netherlands whilst the other toured around Europe. The two users of the bikes could see each other in virtual reality, and were to race across the virtual city. The experience was exciting and competitive, with an aim of connecting europe, it’s art, and it’s people.
Experience Waterloo in VR
Contact:
The Virtual Dutch Men
Bongerd 4a
7642 DA Wierden
tel: +31 (0)546 57 35 33
Whateverland (appendix 7)
The virtual reality user content created art gallery called Whateverland is part of a larger game and expanding idea called Lucid Trips. Whateverland was partly developed by Sara Lisa Vogl, who presented this idea as a part of her university degree. The idea of Lucid Trips is to create a small galaxy of dream planets, where every planet has a different gameplay mechanic and art style. All planets are tied together by the locomotion concept and the distinct surreal atmosphere. In future releases, planets can also be build by the community
You can learn more about Lucid Trips from their website: http://www.lucidtrips.com/
Archiving Virtual Reality (appendix 8)
Guidelines for archiving virtual reality appear on the website of the Archaeology Data Service.
and can be found here: http://guides.archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/g2gp/Vr_Toc