Showing papers by "Maria Roussou published in 2002"

Virtual heritage: from the research lab to the broad public

Abstract: Virtual Reality (VR) is n still n a novel and innovative technology w hich, through its current applications, has proved to be a useful visualization tool for a variety of domains, especially those that in volve the visualization of abstract concepts and ideas, spaces that are unreachable or no long er e xist, or objects that m ust be e xamined from diverse and unique points of vie w. Resear ch in virtual reality and archeology is a r ecent application which has lately sho wn consider able g rowth, as the development of interactive computer technologies has inevitably impacted even the more traditional sciences and arts. The increasing development of VR technologies, interfaces, interaction techniques, and devices has greatly improved the efficacy and usability of VR, providing more na tural and obvious modes of inter action and motivational elements. This has helped institutions of informal education, such as museums, media research, and cultural centers to embrace advanced virtual technologies and support their transition from the research laboratory to the public realm. Furthermore, the use of these advanced systems for the implementation of her itage pr ograms in pub lic spaces, enables these institutions to in vestigate their educational potential while effectively shaping how they deliver public awareness and entertainment. Further in this paper we will describe some examples of interactive vir tual heritage en vironments developed for learners of all ages and discuss the issues involved in developing immersive and interactive vir tual archeology projects for the general public. The use of immer sive Virtual Reality (VR) tec hnology accounts almost a decade of r esearch perf ormed exclusively b y the academic, military, and industrial research and development communities. However, as VR technologies mature, research is expanding from the military and scientific visualisa tion realm into more m ultidisciplinary ar eas, such as education, archeology, art, culture, and the humanities. As representative institutions involved in the research and presentation of these fields, museums and cultural heritage centres may be in a better position to make use of advanced virtual reality technologies and contribute to a broad-based public acceptance of technology as a tool for the study and presentation of the past. Nevertheless, the prohibitive costs and inaccessibility of immersive VR technologies, coupled with theoretical issues and issues of usa bility, user training, operation, and maintenance, continue to present practical drawbacks, especially for the cultural and educational use of VR. This paper explores some of these issues through examples of immersive virtual heritage applications for the broad public.