3D images of ancient artefacts combined with augmented reality, gesture recognition, and touch technology provide visitors with unprecedented opportunities to interact with material heritage and engage with the past.
3.1 Interactives
Introduction
Giancarlo Amati
Digital Developer, UCL Petrie Museum
Margaret Serpico
Curator of virtual exhibitions and resources, UCL Petrie Museum
Giancarlo Amati: "Being part of the Petrie Museum's 3Dproject allows me to use my technical skills in new and interesting ways. My background is in Computer Science, Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and Computer Graphics. My role is to develop end-user applications that use 3D images of the Petrie Museum artefacts. Over the past three years I have designed and developed a range of software applications for desktop computers and mobile devices that allow visitors to more deeply engage and interact with the collections by combining augmented reality, gesture recognition and touch technologies with 3D images. Although many museums question the value of 3D technology, at the Petrie Museum we have effectively used it to enhance visitors' experience. As the digital landscape changes rapidly, I have to stay abreast of new technologies and understand how they can be usefully deployed in the museum setting. My work at the Petrie Museum is not just about technology, it is about working with the team to create compelling stories around the artefacts; reveal the hidden sides archaeological and museum practice; and find new means through which visitors' experience."
Margaret Serpico: "We are committed to on-going development of new 3D interactives to promote public engagement with our collection and for use in all levels of teaching and learning. The interactives can be used individually or in combination for larger exhibitions. They are featuring 3D models of the UCL Petrie Museum produced through our 3D imaging programme. In the future, we aim to have all of our resources available through the web."
3D highlight
Perfomative Interactions in a Museum Context - Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology
Video by Ana Maria Moutinho. Link to her video and description http://vimeo.com/38473073
Perfomative Interactions in a Museum Context - Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology from Ana Maria Moutinho on Vimeo.
Case studies
Tour of the Nile
Using an iPad and 'augmented reality', visitors can take a journey down the River Nile in Egypt, visiting ancient archaeological sites and exploring 3D images of the objects excavated or found there. A large map of Egypt, printed by the UCL Geography Dept., helps guide the journey. Tour of the Nile is now released as an iPad and Android app as of 15 February 2013. To use the app, please go to our Download suite for the AR markers and the iTunes link.
Connecting the past
Where objects are broken or damaged, the fragments can end up in different parts of a collection, in different museums, or even in different countries. 3D imaging opens up exciting opportunities to reunite objects wherever they are found.
Based on technology developed for the gaming industry, we created an interactive that allows visitors to join together two fragments of a decorative foot cover and tell us how they would like to see them displayed. To see a video of the 3D imaging and presentation of the app in the Petrie museum, you can watch a video on Youtube.
Crossing over
Using 3D imaging, the 'Crossing Over' virtual exhibition demonstrates how 3D can enhance storytelling and highlight contemporary issues. The exhibition combines concepts of crossing over into the afterlife with the very relevant issues of the impact cultures may have on each other at points of interface.
Evaluation of this application was undertaken by UCL Master's students at UCLIC (Human Computer Interaction) and in Digital Humanities. In 2010, Crossing Over was part of a British Library exhibition, Growing Knowledge, which attracted over 35,000 visitors. The virtual exhibition is currently on display at the Petrie Museum.
Modern makeover
When the Petrie Museum decided to undertake conservation treatment to restore a badly damaged cover placed over the head of an ancient mummy, we saw an opportunity to use 3D imaging to record the treatment and explore its potential in conservation.
In collaboration with a PhD student in the '3D imaging, Photogrammetry and Metrology Centre' at the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, it was possible to advance new photographic techniques in 3D imaging and develop an interactive allowing visitors to understand the decision process for reconstructing this stunning artefact and explore for themselves how it could be restored.
For more information about the imaging procedure please visit our paper publication on UCL Discovery.
In touch with the past
Through collaboration with a visiting research student at UCL's Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, we had the opportunity to combine 3D imaging with a novel interaction using body movement and concepts of performance.
With gesture tracking technology (e.g. by a Kinect-type sensor), users can virtually 'handle' and examine a selection of ancient artifacts, while an audio guide suggests features to study in detail.
E-catalogue
This new teaching interactive, funded by JISC and developed in collaboration with the Institute of Archaeology, helps Museum Studies students learn how to record cultural heritage artefacts using an on-line 3D catalogue. Now freely available on the web (http://ecatalogue.museums.ucl.ac.uk/views/index.php), this teaching tool is accessible to students everywhere and opens exciting possibilities for remote object-based learning.
