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.

/pdf/developing-serious-games-for-cultural-heritage-a-state-of-4zaesd1wlb.pdf

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

The Augmented Representation of Cultural Objects (ARCO) system, developed as a part of an EU ICT project, provides museum curators with software and interface tools to develop web-based virtual museum exhibitions by integrating augmented reality (AR) and 3D computer graphics. ARCO technologies could also be deployed in order to implement educational kiosks placed in real-world museums. The main purpose of the system is to offer an entertaining, informative and enjoyable experience to virtual museum visitors. This paper presents a formal usability study that has been undertaken in order to explore participants' perceived 'sense of being there' and enjoyment while exposed to a virtual museum exhibition in relation to real-world visits. The virtual museum implemented was based on an existing gallery in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK. It is of interest to determine whether a high level of presence results in enhanced enjoyment. After exposure to the system, participants completed standardized presence questionnaires related to the perceived realism of cultural artifacts referred to as AR objects' presence, as well as to participants' generic perceived presence in the virtual museum referred to as VR presence. The studies conducted indicate that previous experience with ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies) did not correlate with perceived AR objects' presence or VR presence while exposed to a virtual heritage environment. Enjoyment and both AR objects' presence and VR presence were found to be positively correlated. Therefore, a high level of perceived presence could be closely associated with satisfaction and gratification which contribute towards an appealing experience while interacting with a museum simulation system.

http://www.music.tuc.gr/kmania/IJHCS-S-08-00034.fdf

Exploring the relationship between presence and enjoyment in a virtual museum

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.

/pdf/serious-games-in-cultural-heritage-ywvt9xlq8g.pdf

Serious Games in Cultural Heritage

This paper introduces the 3D Measurement and Virtual Reconstruction of Ancient Lost Worlds of Europe system (3D MURALE). It consists of a set of tools for recording, reconstructing, encoding, visualising and database searching/querying that operate on buildings, building parts, statues, statue parts, pottery, stratigraphy, terrain geometry and texture and material texture. The tools are loosely linked together by a common database on which they all have the facility to store and access data. The paper describes the overall architecture of the 3D MURALE system and then briefly describes the functionality of the tools provided by the project. The paper compares the multimedia studio architecture adopted in this project with other multimedia studio architectures.

/pdf/3d-murale-a-multimedia-system-for-archaeology-3vynrq3ny9.pdf

3D MURALE: a multimedia system for archaeology

In this article we present a general classification of the different approaches that might be employed to constitute a visual representation of a cultural heritage item, including the ones featuring the use of traditional tools as the ones exhibiting the inclusion of modern 2D and 3D digital technologies. In order to establish a coherent taxonomy, specific elements characterizing such approaches will be discussed and employed to assist the definition of a general conceptual framework that will enable the classification of the possible design choices according to their specific characteristics. Finally, a selection of modeling and simulation techniques which are specifically related to the creation process underlying the virtual representation of heritage items by means of modern visualization technologies will be explored alongside the main areas of preferences linked to the major actors active in the cultural heritage field.

A taxonomy of visualization strategies for cultural heritage applications

Archaeological databases are required to store a wide range of data about archaeological objects. Multimedia, spatial and temporal requirements are placing new demands on these databases. Virtual models of archaeological sites require new storage and search facilities, including searching of 3D graphics for virtual and physical restoration of archaeological finds. We examine the architecture, design philosophy and proposed implementation of the 3D MURALE multimedia database, which will be used by archaeologists to construct a virtual model of the Sagalassos excavation site in Turkey.

3D MURALE: multimedia database system architecture

During an archaeological dig, a great deal of data relating to stratigraphic positioning (SP) is recorded. This data is recorded in a variety of different formats, individual excavation logbooks, stratigraphy forms, and in theodolite measurements. The widely used archaeological practice of analysis and representation of SP is the Harris Matrix approach [1]. This is a valuable technique to analyse and compare 2D SP data, now with the advent of cheap and powerful 3D computing, there is a growing need for the archaeologist on site to test hypotheses and gain immediate results. The 3D representation and analysis of this SP data, with the ability to perform real-time hypotheses without prolonged sifting through hard copies of excavation logbooks presents a real innovation to future archaeological interpretation. This paper details the benefits, requirements and pitfalls of visualizing stratigraphy with this new SP tool.

Edward Grabczewski

Papers

3D MURALE: a multimedia system for archaeology

3D MURALE: multimedia database system architecture

A real time 3D stratigraphic visual simulation system for archaeological analysis and hypothesis testing

A real time 3D stratigraphic visual simulation system for archaeological analysis and hypothesis testing

A Novel Multimedia System for Archaeology