Hironori Fukuoka of Fukuoka Weaving in Kyoto, Japan, is turning to AI and Sony Computer Science Laboratories to help keep the ancient Nishijinori kimono-weaving technique alive, using the technology as a collaborator.
Nishijinori's repetitive and geometric patterns are conducive to digital translations, and Fukuoka views AI as useful in identifying new motifs to define the angular lines of traditional patterns.
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Recently, the latest edited book I co-authored with colleagues from CYENS – Centre of Excellence and the University of Cyprus was published by Springer Series on Cultural Computing. The book is entitled ‘Interactive Media for Cultural Heritage’ and presents the full range of interactive media technologies and their applications in Digital Cultural Heritage. It offers a forum for interaction and collaboration among the interactive media and cultural heritage research communities.
The aim of this book is to provide a point of reference for the latest advancements in the different fields of interactive media applied in Digital Cultural Heritage research, ranging from visual data acquisition, classification, analysis and synthesis, 3D modelling and reconstruction, to new forms of interactive media presentation, visualization and immersive experience provision via extended reality, collaborative spaces, serious games and digital storytelling.
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The openVertebrate (oVert) project involved 18 institutions over the past five years creating 3D reconstructions of museum specimens, which are now available freely online. The animals on display behind glass at the museum are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to museum collections, which contain thousands of specimens that have been collected and carefully preserved over the decades.
But the physical limits to accessing these specimens have always hindered scientific collaboration and education. Already, the process of scanning specimens has given scientists new perspectives on subjects they've been studying for years. While scanning spiny mice for the project, researchers noticed their tails were covered in internal bony plates called osteoderms, previously thought to be unique to armadillos.
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On the 31st October 2023, I gave a keynote at the 10th International Conference on Behavioural and Social Computing (BESC 2023). The talk was entitled ‘Emerging Extended Reality Applications’ and showcased how XR technologies can be used for emerging application domains. Firstly, I introduced the main concepts and principles behind XR. This covered a brief overview of both software and hardware technologies but also adjacent technologies such as human-computer interaction and brain-computer interfaces.
In the second part, the talk demonstrated novel applications that have been experimentally used in laboratory environments but are expected to become the new standards in the broad field of computer science and engineering. Case studies cover research prototypes from several application domains ranging from education, cultural heritage, health, and psychology originating from different research funded projects such as XR4ED and imareculture EU projects.
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On the 9th of June 2023, I visited the Foundation of Hellenic World in Athens, Greece. There, I participated in a collaborative VR experience of the outcome of the EU project called BRIDGES. The BRIDGES platform proposes a real-world solution for remote and co-located group interactions in room-scale immersive XR.
The VR experience involved being part of an ancient Greek family. Up to five participants can collaborate into the shared VR space, having their own ancient avatar representations. Smell and wind simulation allows visitors to feel more immersed in the VR experience.
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