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.
Thursday, 2 July 2009
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.
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.
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.
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