Interactive Media for Cultural Heritage

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.

More information:

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-61018-9

Smart Textiles Use Acoustic Waves

Researchers at ETH Zurich developed smart textiles that rely on acoustic waves passed through glass fibers. This makes the measurements more precise and the textiles lighter, more breathable, and easier to wash. The researchers have woven glass fibers into the fabric at regular intervals. At one end of each glass fiber is a small transmitter that emits sound waves. The other end of each of the glass fibers is connected to a receiver that measures whether the waves have changed.

Each transmitter works at a different frequency. This means it requires little computing power to determine which fiber the sound waves have changed on. Previous smart textiles often struggled with data overload and signal processing issues, since each sensor location had to be evaluated individually. When a glass fiber moves, the length of the acoustic waves passing through it changes, as they lose energy. In the case of a T-shirt, this can be caused by body movement or even breathing.

More information:

https://www.futurity.org/smart-fabric-sound-glass-fibers-3282452

Augmented Physics

With just an iPad, students in any classroom across the world could soon re-imagine the ordinary diagrams in any physics textbook transforming these static images into 3D simulations that run, leap or spin across the page. The tool relies on a model called Segment Anything from the tech company Meta. It’s a computer visualization tool that allows users to click on a photo to isolate particular objects (a dog, or maybe a face). Similarly, through Augmented Physics, students and teachers select various objects inside a diagram, such as the skier and the ski jump, and assign those objects roles. 

The AI then applies some basic physics, such as the force of gravity, to make those objects move. It works for several different kinds of diagrams, too. They include optics diagrams, so students can simulate how a prism refracts sunlight, for example, and electrical circuits, so they can see currents zip along wires. The team also designed its product with feedback from real students studying physics and with science teachers. The tool isn’t perfect yet and it can only turn a brand-new diagram into an effective simulation about 60% of the time. But the team is working to improve those success rates.

More information:

https://www.colorado.edu/today/2024/11/01/textbooks-come-alive-new-interactive-ai-tool