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.