Reflction, analysis and possible future implementations

Throughout the learning process the main consideration was that of the real time environment aspect within the project. Quest 3D was the computer software that was learned and applied to create the real time environment of the historically reconstructed Nottingham castle model. The earlier approaches to create simple environments were constructive, tutorials and informative research help gain the required knowledge to take on and develop the final real time environment, overall the results are quite positive.

Researching about 3D historical reconstructions two projects (Rome and the Sao Paolo reconstructions) gave me an understanding of how the process works, from early stages of research, modelling and finally visualisation and real time production. I feel that these as well as my own project can offer promise at not just being a replica (whether a place exists or not) but also mimicking the real experience.
The 3D historical reconstruction of Nottingham Castle I feel advances a visitors perception to that of the existing scale model that is cased in the museum itself. Allowing a user to step inside medieval Nottingham and giving a sense of virtual presence and immersion, permitting situations and questions such as 'What is here?' 'What is happening at this time?' and 'If I investigate and explore will I find out?' and thus begins interaction, exploration and understanding.

This project provides this information, users can see what buildings were present before its change through history. The aim of my historical reconstruction is to provide evidence taken from pictures and plans of the castle and providing a new and fresh alternative method to castle visitors to view, entertain, learn, encourage and entice.
In the future the project could grow in terms of content and context, the main reason for this would be to further enhance the quality of the visual feel which in turn will entice a visitor to explore further into the project as well as stimulating a higher sense of immersion.

The advancement of higher quality models and textures could be implemented and make the content appear more appealing to the eye. Further research and development into medieval, architecture and materials of that period would provide information needed to do this.More advanced mapping techniques have been investigated that support the use of real time environments. Adapting these can enhance the level of detail of the models textures in the design stage.

The implementation of sound (both Foley and environmental). These would be used to mimic real world sounds and go give a visitor in particular a spatial awareness within the environment (Murphy, D 2001). The use of localisation cues could be executed to create sounds from adjacent environments and slowly fade away as the visitor walks into the distance.

The implementation of information such as text, story telling and/or an on screen actor that provides informative components about certain areas of the castle as a visitor walk around. Such as, a brief history of the main gatehouse or what the caves below the castle were used for.

A graphic user interface could be exploited to not only to give an aesthetically pleasing look to the on screen project but also to hold information such as buttons which could allow a guest to 'camera jump' from one side of the castle grounds to the other without having to physically walk through it in the virtual environment.

Implementation of "Jumping through time". Hotspots may possibly be exercised to allow a user to change time periods and see how the castle developed or indeed came to its demise as time passed on. Multiple environments and static 3D models would have to be built.

Web technology and use of virtual space online (Thomas and Carey 2005) initially could be considered as a platform for efficiently displaying work with documents and images such as information from this project, with the potential to reach a larger audience and bring cultural heritage to interested internet users. (See Pavlidis. G 2006) The tales of Robin Hood are greatly and widely known and with this link - even though not in the same time period could potentially entice visitors more so to investigate.

Evaluation of product and thoughts

Comprehensive knowledge of the subject area was needed both in terms of informative historical resources about Nottingham castle and computerised real time environments in which generated reconstructed imagery could be displayed. This display will in fact be a means of interaction for the attended audience.Interpretation of historical data and information from the 16th century enabled the recreation of the castle, in which the 3D static model would be used on a real time environment.

A computerised real time environment generated with the results from the 3D historical reconstruction enables a user to walk through in their own leisure, being able to explore in their own time. The fundamental role of creating a virtual presence is incorporated at this stage by means of accurate historical design, effective graphics and well planned interaction.

The historical information accumulated over the course of the research process provided a vast understanding of the subject area, achieving this was a vital first step into the castle reconstruction. Complete plans and information was not found, due to a lot of information being secondary evidence there are areas of which are presumptions about the castle's construction.

Time and consideration was taken in the castle reconstruction, not only to build and make it as historically accurate as possible but also to texture it to a standard that is accurate and visually appealing. Making the castle aesthetically pleasing will engage a visitor more to look round in the real time environment.The real time environment was created to inform a visitor of what the castle used to look like in the 16th century. The amount of historical information gathered was used to generate a model that is historically accurate and visual pleasing, the project has achieved this.

However, the main question to be asked is does the interactive 3D reconstruction of a historical environment aid a users understanding? With the use of a real time environment the following two aspects need to be addressed; Interaction and immersion (Gaitatzes, A 2001).

The 3D real time environment is interactive, a potential visitor can easily walk through and explore and learn about the period of time and what existed. The fundamental role is played by the part of a individual who is interacting with the environment, a virtual presence (Di Blas 2005) needs to be established where factors such as the look of the environment, interactivity, a visitors imagination and the sense of 'being there' is applied and immersion can in fact take place.To a certain degree I feel that this project has achieved this however there are other factors that could be implemented into the real time environment which could create a larger virtual presence such as sound and high level detailed objects. Future installations of this project could put into practice these advancements to create a stunning visual as well as an informative understanding of that period of time.

Testing and Evaluation continued...

After further testing and evaluation another discrepancy was found in the castle model, this time on some of the textures. When applying the stone textures to the various buildings a lot of textures seem to be larger than others or not aligned properly. Below is an example of this.

To amend these, each texture for each building had to be amended via mapping co-ordinates to adjust the height, width and alignment. Once this process was complete, the whole castle had to be imported into Quest 3D once more.

Whilst viewing the real time environment it was suggested that the windows be replaced with actual textures to represent the windows, before were blue boxes and this was unsatisfactory. To follow on from the user feedback it was suggested that by having borders (in this case a wooden texture) to signify the window on a building would make it more visually appealing. This can be seen below.

Despite the fact that navigation can be done via keyboard (forward, back, sidestep left, sidestep right) and mouse (direction of view) an alternative method was suggested. If the use of a tracker ball mouse alone instead of the use of a keyboard and mouse, a user can pick up quickly and easily how to navigate through the environment.

This was easily set up in the real time software by assigning the left mouse button to move forwards, whilst the tracker ball can be utilized as a direction view such as a person moving their head around to see. This not only reduces the method of input but also increase ease of use.

Testing and Evaluation

During the 3D reconstruction stage human errors can occur and it is with my own user testing as well as feedback from others that allows errors and adjustments to be seen. Before the project comes to a close these errors and adjustments must be amended before the final real time environment can be created and the contribution justified to the ideas of historical reconstruction of Nottingham Castle.

Firstly the feedback gained from previous post about amending the ground texture was positive, the dull grass before was not engaging enough nor aesthetically pleasing to the eye. The new texture has significantly improved the reconstructed castle and the mood of the environment leading to encouraging results.

As it is difficult to spot some discrepancies when you have worked on a project for nearly nine months a fresh pair of eyes and user feedback is invaluable. A means of testing the real times environment was to actually show the real time environment and not just the 3D model in its creative software.

Below are 2 discrepancies that user testing found out, one shows a wall that appears to be 'floating' (this was probably occurred when altering the terrain and height. The second shows part of a wall missing (this was due to deleting a polygon by mistake). If these were not t be found a user may not just comment on how they feel about the 16th castle but also errors they saw whilst walking through it in the real time environment.

New terrain textures

This week I have been concentrating on creating a better aesthetic feel to the model by giving the ground textures a more appealing and more interesting look. As you can see from the imagery below it has greatly improved visually from previous posts where only plain grass was present.

Enhancing the experience

As discussed so far in previous blog posts 3D historical reconstructed models can be placed inside their original period of time and context using varying augmented resources such as photography, paintings, diagrams, manuscripts, models and artefacts (Boeykens, S 2008) . We have seen this can be beneficial especially in cases where a building or an area is decayed or even non existent anymore (such as Nottingham Castle). Utilizing 3D techniques recreating buildings can provide insight into the evolution of a particular building or site.
Web based presentations offer users the 'interactive' advantages whilst exploring a virtual environment. A form of this can be seen at the Virtual Old Prague project (http://www.cgg.cvut.cz/vsp/). Where, a user can walk through the application on screen and explore in their own time and pace. Other web based environments offer a multi-user experience such as Second Life (http://secondlife.com/)/ Here, users can meet others and discuss opinions, ask questions and also learn in this environment. This approach is directly applicable to real social interaction (Zara, J 2004) - as you may find in a museum.

As the Nottingham Castle project is based on a 3D real-time application where a user can walk through the castle grounds on a computer screen an advancement from this immersive and interactive experience is virtual reality. Virtual reality offers an exploration of an exhibit arranged in a virtual scene and the main difference from the previous approaches is that users virtually enter the space and get the feeling of being part of the environment, engaging a new generation of visitors (Negroponte, N 2003).

In an everyday environment we do not just have a visual element but also have spatial sound. The attributes of spatial sound can affect a users perception of an environment (Murphy, D 2001). The paper titled ' Spatial Sound Enhancing Virtual Story Telling' states the failure of a virtual reconstructed project of Cork in Ireland. It's aim was to simulate interest in the history of the area and encourage exploration of the medieval remains in the area. The evaluation of the project suggests that the level of detail of the models may not have been enough and that the users were more interested in the interactive features rather then content. The evaluation continues by stating the use of sounds (Foley & Environmental) and that these sounds are used to give a feeling of immersion in an environment. This case, to lure and persuade users to explore further. Boeykens argues this and suggests that it is not necessary to create realistic representations but to create attractive visual representations that are over layered with additional information, which will provide more insight into an environment and appeal to a wider audience.

The failure in this project has given my an insight into the Nottingham Castle project. The use of sound is a simple tool that can be used to immerse a user further than just real time interaction and imagery. An interesting concept that the Cork project used was having 'hotspots' where a user can in effect jump from a medieval model to the present day model. This could also be used for the Nottingham Castle model allowing a user to potentially see the development of the site through time.

References

Boeykens, S., Neuckermans (2008) Architectural Design Analysis, Historical Reconstruction and Structured Archival Using 3D Models.
Murphy, D., Pitt, I. (2001) Spatial Sound Enhancing Virtual Story Telling. Computer Science Department, University College, Cork, Ireland.
Nandi, A., Marcichal, X. (2000) Interactive Immersive Transfiction
Negroponte, N., (2003) Virtual Reality in Museums, Sunrise Virtual reality.
Zara, J. (2004) Virtual Reality and Cultural Heritage on the Web.


Weblinks

http://secondlife.com/
http://www.cgg.cvut.cz/vsp/

Why Historical Reconstruction? Part 2/2

Real-time computer generated 3D environments offer two basic advantages to users (Gaitatzes, A). That of am immersive experience, where the illusion of being in the projected world occurs and the user sees themselves 'living' in the experience presented before them.
Gaitatzes follows on by saying it offers a 'better than real life' or 'better than being there' experience. The argument presented by Zuffo suggests that providing enough model details to enable an accurate historical representation should be as important as the availability and usability for a diverse range of users. Some of which may not be familiar with different technology and ways of using it.
The second advantage is interaction. The fact that an audience are not merely watching a realistic historical reconstruction on a computer screen but to actively participate in the experience. As the projected graphics are simply not pre recorded and set out as a visual story but an actual real-time the user can define movement, behaviour and thus creates immersion as described above.

Having looked at the advantages of why using real time historical reconstructions, the benefit to an audience in terms of an interactive and immersive experience it can be seen as a powerful tool. The museum experience can thus be altered to benefit visitors, using computer aided real time visuals as well as traditional informative presentations such as images, artefacts and documents. Giving visitors the opportunities to explore and interact within exhibits provides a means of learning (Hall, T). They argue that using augmented methods such as combining the use of digital and physical environments enhances a visitors interaction in these 'Living Exhibitions'.


References

Gaitatzes, A., Chritopoulos, D., Voulgari, A., Roussou, M. (2001) Hellenic Cultural Heritage through Immersive Virtual Archaeology.
Hall, T., Benford, S., Bowers, S (2002) The Visitor as Virtual Archaeologist: Explorations in Mixed Reality Technology to Enhance Educational and Social Interaction in the Museum.
Zuffo, M., Cabral, M., Nomura, L., Nagamura, M., Andrade, F., Ghirotti, S., Belloc, O., (2007)X3D Experiences on Historical Architectural Digital Reconstruction: A case Study of Sao Paulo city in 1911.
Zara, J. (2004) Virtual Reality and Cultural Heritage on the Web.

Weblinks
http://www.romereborn.virginia.edu/

Why Historical Reconstruction? Part 1/2

With ever advancing computer technology, applications and the techniques to display information on varying platforms, historical reconstruction and digitization of artefacts will always play a part in our lives. Preserving cultural heritage and keeping history alive through techniques that can extend our perceptive capacity and understanding furthermore than photographic evidence could.

Virtual models can provide new perspectives and the potential to transcend from a physical location such as a museum room into a part of history using methods such as virtual reality. Various ancient reconstructed sites presented in 3D include Pompeii in Greece & Rome in Italy.

Using real-time techniques in this context offers a range of opportunities for detailed reconstruction heritage sites to be viewed and explored with a user being able to navigate through a place that is difficult to get to or does not exist anymore, thus increases one intellectual capacity of the environment and the history in that specific time period (Zuffo, M. (2007).

Virtual environments give users the possibilities of placing them in the environment and maintaining normal everyday parameters of a users height and view angle so that it is easy to understand spatial awareness and properties of buildings and artefacts (Zara, J. 2004). Other applications may allow a user to navigate freely by also flying, so that a user has total interactive freedom in the immersive virtual environment.

A virtual environment that has been historically reconstructed was Rome (Rome Reborn blog post from an earlier date). The work developed here ignited my interest in the subject of historic reconstruction. The Rome project and the Sao Paolo reconstruction of 1911 (Zuffo, M) gave me an understanding of how the process works. From the early stages of research, modelling and finally visualisation. The aim of the later was to provide an in depth 3D visual representation of how the city of Sao Paolo looked like in the early 20th century. Below is a Perspective render of cathedral (IgrejadaS´e), Germania and Casa Lebre buildings from the project.

References

Gaitatzes, A., Chritopoulos, D., Voulgari, A., Roussou, M. (2001) Hellenic Cultural Heritage through Immersive Virtual Archaeology.
Hall, T., Benford, S., Bowers, S (2002) The Visitor as Virtual Archaeologist: Explorations in Mixed Reality Technology to Enhance Educational and Social Interaction in the Museum.
Zuffo, M., Cabral, M., Nomura, L., Nagamura, M., Andrade, F., Ghirotti, S., Belloc, O., (2007)X3D Experiences on Historical Architectural Digital Reconstruction: A case Study of Sao Paulo city in 1911.
Zara, J. (2004) Virtual Reality and Cultural Heritage on the Web.

Weblinks

http://www.romereborn.virginia.edu/

“I hear and I forget. I see and I understand. I do and I remember.” -Confucius

Museum exhibits are constructed with technology that can in effort bring the past to life, to reconstruct the subject matter and environment in a way that it engages a visitor's perception to that of aesthetically pleasing or to push the observer closer to the actual experience.
In terms of immersive 3D environments a certain amount of realism is needed, and thus physical behaviours of the real world are reproduced. With this, and also a visitors meaningful engagement with the environment a 'virtual presence' is created (Di Blas 2005). This could be though visitors mind casting themselves fictitiously into the period of time that the exhibit is or by a means of engaging them in a reproduced surrounding such as real-time applications like augmented and virtual realities.

Through an interactive environment a visitor is convinced that they are in a different 'world' or time period (Negroponte 2003) however this is only as effective as the virtual presence created by the visitor. The understanding of how a real place existed can only be defined by the user and how effective the graphics and interactive elements are (Di Blas 2005). This is true for the most part. If a visitor gets bored, they will move on to the next exhibit. In terms of placing the Nottingham castle 3D reconstruction in this situation I believe it would need more than a simple screen and a means of navigating through the space.

Historical Recreations allows museum guests to travel back into periods of time, and experience events as they occurred hundreds or thousands of years ago. The technicological progress that has been made in this area (including the website representation) gives a sense of digital storytelling that engages a visitor. Information can be experienced within a virtual environment or combined with physical artefacts (Murry 1998, Bimber 2003).

The means of how Museum exhibitions can excite, entertain, and also educate guests directly links to the users experience and 'living through' a narrative that can engage and whilst they interact with the environment.

References

Di Blas N., Gobbo E., Paolini P., (2005) 3D Worlds and Cultural Heritage: Realism vs. Virtual Presence, Politecnico di Milano, Italy.
Negroponte, N., (2003) Virtual Reality in Museums, Sunrise Virtual reality.
Murry, J.H. (1998) Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative Cyberspace. ISBN 0-262-63187-3, MIT Press, 1998.
Bimber O., Miguel Encarnacao L., Schmalstieg D., (2003) The Virtual Showcase as a new Platform for Augmented Reality Digital Storytelling

Reconstruction and Representation

The preservation of cultural heritage through the means of virtual reconstructions has evolved in the last decade with the direct boost of internet based 3D applications and multimedia technologies. Virtual reconstructions or archaeological artefacts and sites have been a common place in museums where visitors can walk through a space and view them in a 'reconstructed environment' thus to recontextualize them in their original state in which these artefacts once were. This can be seen in the Eternal Egypt Project. The perception of replacing the tomb of King Tutankhamun into a three dimension model is clearly a benefit as the tomb is now empty.

The method of representing this information is as important as the content itself, studies regarding the use of such virtual representations show that visitors were encouraged with the use of the virtual space online. (Thomas and Carey 2005).

With use of advancing technology such as the internet websites can display historically reconstructed sites and artefacts (http://www.timeref.com/3dindex.htm) that may no longer exist. Alternatively artefacts that may be scattered over the globe or too fragile to travel can be combined and represented on an online virtual exhibition. Where, these exhibitions can offer 3D digitized models as well as information related to the content (Pavlidis 2006) which could be placed in a virtual space such as a exhibition hall to give the visitor a sense of being in the museum and reflect on the content (Corcoran et.al 2002).Common features of the above examples is simplicity of use, which is understandable - If a visitor in a real museum cant find a certain exhibit, frustration would occur and possibly putting them off from the exhibit all together!

Certainly museums now have technology that can re-presentation an exhibit on the internet but also in a physical state in a real life exhibit through the means of lighting, architecture and climate control. The use of such a collaboration and juxtaposing the past and present by means of technology, virtual information and the physical artefacts is not only a form of entertainment, but an educational tool which helps visitors make a personal connection Tolva (2005).

Virtual exhibits offer a way to complement a real exhibition, increasing it's scope and impact. As can be seen in earlier posts describing the reconstruction of Pomeii & the work by Earthworks, the use of combining varying media and a real-time experience engages an audience.

References

Corcoran, F., Demaine, J., Picard, M., Dicaire, L.G and Taylor, J. (2002) INUIT3D: An Interactive Virtual 3D Web Exhibition, Proceedings of the Conference on Museums and the Web 2002, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
G. Pavlidis, D., Tsiafakis, F., Arnaoutoglou, C., Chamzas (2006) MOMI: A Dynamic and Internet- Based 3D Virtual Museum of Musical Instruments, Xanthi, Greece
Thomas, W. A. and Carey, S (2005), Actual/Virtual Visits: What are the Links?, International conference on Museums and the Web 2005, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Tolva, J. (2005), Recontextualizing the Collection: Virtual Reconstruction, Replacement and Repatriation, International Conference on Museums and the Web 2005, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Weblinks

http://www.eternalegypt.org - The Eternal Egypt Project
http://www.timeref.com/3dindex.htm - 3D reconstructions of historical buildingshttp://www.ipet.gr/momi/ - Museum of Musical Instruments

Virtual reality time travelling part 2/2

Following on from the virtual reality model of the Turkish mosque in part one, part two will look at how the virtual model works and also how it is used in another project by Lifeplus involving Pompeii and the people that lived there. This project provides an augmented reality which gives the visitors a glimpse into what life was like in Pompeii, as a visitor moves around the historic site they can see a combination of the digital environment & people as well as the view seen by the tourist of the actual site.



How this works is by a camera that is mounted on a head display that captures the view where the visitor is looking. The information is fed to the software that the visitor has to carry in a back pack. The downside to this is that the user must carry about this equipment where ever they go. Obviously as technology advances and things get smaller and smaller this would gradually become less of a problem.

Unfortunately as there is nothing left of the original Nottingham medieval castle left besides a few Bailey walls this augmented reality can not really be used for the castle. It seems that after looking at just these two projects, the potential of using virtual and augmented reality allows that extra bit of real-time interactivity for an audience. For a museum visitor touching objects and looking at information and also experience life as it was can only be a good thing.

In terms of a museum orientated virtual reality realm a possibility of a story telling role could be established. For example having a virtual tour guide guiding a visitor through an exhibit would be both informative and also keep certainly the younger visitors engaged due to its real time computer interactivity.

'2d3' are the company who developed the software to make the Pompeii project capable are in the UK. The chief scientist at '2d3' said "The popularity of television documentaries and dramatisations using computer-generated imagery to recreate scenes from ancient history demonstrates the widespread appeal of bringing ancient cultures to life"

Web links
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3472589.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3954659.stm
http://www.2d3.com/application/?v=2
http://lifeplus.miralab.unige.ch/HTML/home.htm

Virtual reality time travelling part 1/2

Virtual reality has always been an interest of mine and after finding 'Miralab' - a research lab that work in the domains of mixed reality and 3D multimedia applications. There were two articles on the BBC new website (links below) about virtual reality and augmented design.The development of a virtual reality Turkish mosque dating from the 16th century that allows a user to move around and explore the building in real-time using a mouse and the possibility to zoom in on detailed mosaics.

"The technology allows you to restore endangered sites, with the atmosphere and ambience of those buildings at that era,… We are trying to give the impression of back in time - this kind of technology could be used for a virtual museum" - Nedjma Cadi-Yazli, Miralab.

This virtual reality simulation can provide a sense of "being there" and adapting it to a virtual museum of sort where users can freely walk around and look at cultural artefacts can provide a way for people to immerse themselves in not only the past but also how culture has differed to the present.
In a way the Nottingham Castle project provides this information, users can see what buildings were present before its change in history. The aim of my historical reconstruction is to provide evidence taken from pictures and plans of the castle and providing an alternative method to castle visitors to view and learn. A 3D real-time application an be an advantage to a user as well as having existing photos, writings, and artefacts that can be simply 'viewed'.
This virtual reality technology seems to be a 'step up' from my current practice but the results are very similar in terms of a real time experience.


Web links
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3472589.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3954659.stm

Rendered Images

Below are latest rendered images from 3DS Max of the recreated castle.

"Real And Virtual Pendulums Swing As One In Mixed Reality State."

This article found on the Science Daily website interested me and thought it would be worth while commenting on the content. It is not specifically directed at my project but is an overall view virtual environments and the real world it mimics.

The article briefly gives an example of technology that can mix reality state in a physical system. The University of Illinois created a virtual pendulum that can sense the motion of a real world one and began swinging as one.

"In a mixed reality state there is no clear boundary between the real system and the virtual system. The line blurs between what's real and what isn't."
said U. of I. physicist Alfred Hubler.

Hubler also goes on to say that virtual worlds are becoming more and more accurate depictions of the real world. There could come a point, a phase transition, where the boundary between reality and virtual reality disappears, And that could present problems.

From my experience in 3D computerised technology and the output that it creates I understand that it sometimes it is difficult and nearly impossible to tell if a picture is real or not. I believe this is a benefit to society however, one of these benefits are to learn.For example Flight & driving simulators that are real and 'mimic' the real world can indeed teach people skills and use their interaction as a means of learning how to use a car, boat, plane so forth.

A virtual historical reconstructed environment of Nottingham castle I believe will also benefit society and potentially be used in the Nottingham castle museum due to the model being as accurate as the material gained from it's history. As only a small amount of the medieval castle is present visitors may use this virtual environment as a 'step up' from the existing hand made model that is viewable in the museum.



The article can be found on this websitehttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080310131511.htm

Machupicchu

Machupicchu

An application that was created by Pavel Kornev on Quest 3D is a virtual flythrough of the famous ancient city in Peru. At the first instance the camera flies through the scene so a user can see the whole city from birds eye view. Once the camera has settled down on the ground a user can freely move around the city.

One of my favourite attributes in this application is that the camera is in first person but also capable from lifting off the ground and a user can choose where to go and what to see from above. I feel this sort of camera could be used instead of a first person camera for Nottingham castle. and allow a user to guide themselves around the castle grounds quickly.

Earthworks

Is a travelling exhibit that presents interactive virtual reconstructions of ancient architecture in the world. Exhibit visitors may choose up to 90 interactive video topics, many also reinforced on exhibit panels, a timeline, and a giant map of the region.

"This is an especially exciting project, as it brings together our most ancient heritage with our most advanced technology."--William Ferris, Former Chairman, National Endowment for the Humanities, 1998.

The unique way that Earthworks present their information by having a program that consists
of many video scenes, most less than a minute long. At the end of each scene
the user may select another scene to view, another Earthwork location or a different culture location.
The way a user can interact with this project differs from the way I will use real-time technology when reconstruction Nottingham Castle. This project interacts when a user selects a video to watch and they can watch a walk through of a scene (Sometimes 3D generated models) and have actors that move and talk in the scene. A user can then move to a different area, time and/or culture. The experience is set apart from other projects and makes these ancient sites memorable, engaging, visual using spatial navigation and multi-voiced interpretation.

If more time were available for the Nottingham castle reconstruction, then a possible direction the project could go in would be to use actors and involve the use of further interaction by enabling users to walk to a certain points on the castle grounds and revealing information by both visual type and speech.

The website

http://earthworks.uc.edu/index.htm

After a few weeks of modelling, looking at images, modelling and more modelling i have managed to recreate a vast amount of Nottingham Castle. I have also reduced the amount of polygons used from 59 thousand to just under 20 thousand so far, this will be useful later in the real-time stage. The more polygons there are the more information the computer has to process.

Below are a few images of the historically reconstructed 3d model thuus far...

Rome Reborn

"Rome Reborn 1.0," is a true 3D model that runs in real time based at the University of Virginia , shows almost the entire city within the 13-mile-long Aurelian Walls in 320 A.D. Visitors can navigate with complete freedom through key sites such as, the Colosseum and the Temple of Venus and Rome.

The simulation, which is aimed at students, scholars, and people interested in history, can be easily updated to reflect the latest knowledge about the ancient city.

" The digital model thus also consists of two types of materials: (1) highly detailed models of buildings that can be reconstructed on the basis of reliable archaeological evidence (examples: the buildings in the Roman Forum and the Forum of Julius Caesar; the Flavian Amphitheater; the Temple of Venus and Rome; etc.); and (2) buildings and other features that are known only by type and by frequency in the particular regions of the city. It has been estimated that there are approximately 200 buildings of the first type; and there are an estimated 7,000-10,000 in the second category (assuming, as seems reasonable, that in the regionary catalogues, the term insula refers to apartment units, not to entire apartment buildings)." - Taken from the Rome Reborn Website.

This project really interests and has influenced me due to the level of detail that the 3D model posses and the use of real-time technology that enables user to navigate through 'Rome' in 320 A.D.

This Historical computerised reconstruction is so far ten years in the making and is the largest of it's kind to date. I would like to have a similar outcome to my own Nottingham castle reconstruction and allow users to Navigate through the castle grounds as it was in the 15th Century.

Due to my limited time on the project and only myself researching, 3D Modelling and creating the suitable real-time environment my model will clearly not be as highly detailed as 'Rome Reborn' but will have the basic user navigation in a real-time environment and an accurate 3D historical reconstruction of Nottingham Castle.

The Website

http://www.romereborn.virginia.edu/

Useful Websites

Useful websites

Whilst reconstructing the castle on 3DS Max, a few websites were found that I found quite useful. The first of these was a site that had castle terminology and also links to British castles that shows images of specific terminology. Using this I was able to name objects in my 3D model accordingly.

http://www.castlewales.com/casterms.htmlAnother was a model castle site where models of keeps, houses & castles. Although this did not help me specifically for Nottingham castle, it was interesting to read the information on other castles and I did use the example of a Norman keep as a visual aid when creating the keep in the Upper Bailey.

http://www.buildmodelcastles.com/html/castles.html

Using plans and drawings

After creating an initial template to see where the castle walls rest upon the terrain, the next procedure is to finalise the positioning of these and also construct templates of all the buildings. This way the overall space can be seen in a 3D perspective and creating detail such as windows, stairs doors etc can then begin.

Castle & Landscape Template

Before recreating the castle, the landscape needs to be produced first so the walls and buildings can be positioned in the right place and height. Below are a couple of images that have been created as a use of a castle template as the landscape is being developed.

Quest Notes Part 6/6

Quest Notes Part 5/6

Quest Notes Part 4/6