Last June, the International Journal of Architectural Computing (IJAC) has published a journal paper I co-authored with colleagues from the Centre for VLSI and Computer Graphics at the University of Sussex and the Ename Center, in a Special Issue on Cultural Heritage. The title of the article is ‘Multimodal Mixed Reality Interfaces for Visualizing Digital Heritage’ and the main aim of the paper is to provide several different and interesting types of virtual heritage exhibitions by utilising Web3D, virtual and augmented reality technologies for visualizing digital heritage in an interactive manner through the use of several different input devices. A high-level diagram illustrating the technologies employed in the multimodal mixed reality system is presented below.
The novelty of the technologies employed is that they allow users to switch between three different types of visualization environments including: the web in the traditional way, but including 3D, virtual reality and augmented reality. Additionally, several different interface techniques can be employed to make exploration of the virtual museum that much more interesting. In particular the architectural diagram illustrates several interaction modes from use of SpaceMouse and gamepad through to use of a physical replica of an artefact, and simple hand manipulation of AR marker cards. In addition, several visualization scenarios are provided ranging from the familiar web page but with 3D object, a virtual gallery environment, a person using a physical replica of an artefact to control and explore the virtual artefact, and several augmented reality examples.
A draft version of the article can be downloaded from here.
A draft version of the article can be downloaded from here.