Category Archives: Academic

New Paper for EuroMed2020 Virtual Conference

Academic, Conference, digital heritage, Digital Humanities, virtual heritage, Virtual Reality, visualisation,

The paper “Time-Layered Gamic Interaction with a Virtual Museum Template” by Erik Champion, Rebecca Kerr, Hafizur Rahaman and David McMeekin will be presented virtually at EuroMed 2020 Conference next week. The project is part of the ARC funded project Time Layered Culture Map (tlc). Registration is free.

Abstract. This paper discusses a simplified workflow and interactive learning opportunities for exporting map and location data using a free tool, Recogito into a Unity game environment with a simple virtual museum room template. The aim was to create simple interactive virtual museums for humanities scholars and students with a minimum of programming or gaming experience, while still allowing for interesting time-related tasks. The virtual environment template was created for the Oculus Quest and controllers but can be easily adapted to other head-mounted displays or run on a normal desktop computer. Although this is an experimental design, it is part of a project to increase the use of time-layered cultural data and related mapping technology by humanities researchers.

Upcoming publications

Academic, Announcements

I have been busy writing job and grant applications and lecture presentations.

But still intending to publish/finish the below:

Pending, To Be Presented or Published

Books and edited books in press or under review

  • Champion, E. (2021: in press). Rethinking Virtual Places. Indiana University Press, Spatial Humanities series.
  • Champion, E. (Ed). (2021). Virtual Heritage: A Concise Guide. Ubiquity.
  • Lee, C. & Champion, E. (Ed). (2021: pending). Screen Tourism and Affective Landscapes. Edited book.
  • Proposing a book on VR and Philosophy, more details soon.

Book Chapters in press

  • Champion, E. (2021: pending). Biodiversity and Cultural Diversity: Virtual opportunities.” In Biodiversity in connection with Linguistic and Cultural Diversity. Vienna, Austria. Chapter accepted.
  • Champion, E. (2021: under review). “Not Quite Virtual: Techné between Text and World.” In Texts & Technology: Inventing the Future of the Humanities, edited by Anastasia Salter and Barry Mauer, University of Central Florida, Orlando Florida USA. Chapter.
  • Champion, E. (2021: under review). “Workshopping Game Prototypes for History and Heritage.” In Digital Humanities book, Politecnico di Torino, Italy. Aracne Publishing Company. Chapter.
  • Champion, E., Nurmikko-Fuller, T., & Grant, K. (2021: pending, invited). “Blue Sky Skyrim VR: Immersive Techniques to Engage with Medieval History.” In Games for Teaching, Impact, and Research edited by Robert Houghton, Winchester University. De Gruyter. Abstract accepted, full chapter due March 2021.
  • Champion, E. and Hiriart, J. (2021: pending). Game Prototyping with Board Games. In Playing Place: Board Games, Architecture, Space, and Heritage, edited by Chad Randl et al. Publisher to be advised.
  • Champion, E., & Hiriart, J. (2021 pending). Game Prototyping with Board Games. In C. Randl & M. Lasansky (Eds.), Playing Place: Board Games, Architecture, Space, and Heritage. Publisher to be advised.

Upcoming or Completed Recent Invited Talks/Keynotes

Journal articles now published

  • Champion, E. (2020: in press). Culturally Significant Presence In Single-Player Computer Games. ACM Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage (JOCCH). URL: https://dl.acm.org/journal/jocch/ Update: now published.
  • Rahaman, H., Johnston, M., & Champion, E. (2020: in press). Audio-augmented Arboreality: Wildflowers and Language. Digital Creativity. Update: Now published.

Conference papers presented

Writing PhD proposals backwards

Academic,

I receive quite a few PhD proposals and they generally try to prove too much, and quote methods as if they are methodology (the latter is the study of methods, ideally explaining which methods are most suitable and why certain ones will be used here).

Many PhD proposals read more like trans-national proposals!

  • Is it about mentioned subject 1 or 2?
  • What is the specific site (and why)?
  • What sort of audience would be appropriate for the end product and for evaluation purposes (not the same thing, generally)?
  • Who decides it works/answers the research question?

It should read well, backwards. Imagine you finished your PhD thesis and now you are writing the summary BUT IN REVERSE:

1.       Future work will need to look at and develop _____

2.       My research finding is significant and useful because is _____

3.       I found this _____

4.       I decided the experimental design needed to be _____because of _____

5.       The local test site has these features is _____ and requirements is _____

6.       The specific field problem is _____

7.       Key terms relating to the current solutions and potential problem are is _____

8.       The overall research problem is _____

It is much clearer and quicker to read working (and ideally evaluable/verifiable) definitions of topic X and methods Y1 Y2 etc and why they are relevant to audience Z.

For example:

What are walking simulators designed to do, how do academia and industry measure their effectiveness, and how can they be used for virtual heritage (to increase engagement, or interactivity, or control by a domain subject expert)..

New journal article

Journal, publication

New article out today:

Dawson B, Joseph P, Champion E. Evaluating User Experience of a Multimedia Storyteller Panorama Tour: The Story of the Markham Car Collection. Collections. 2020;16(3):251-278. doi:10.1177/1550190620940966. URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1550190620940966

A storyteller panorama tour, The Story of the Markam Car Collection, was developed as an example for museums and cultural institutions concerning the use of panoramas combined with multimedia to tell stories of specific large objects (antique cars). It was designed for multiple platforms to involve and engage audiences via large curved screens while allowing for access via portable devices. Understanding users’ requirements is essential when designing and developing virtual museum tours. Measuring digital productions’ usability is an ongoing challenge that affects the improvement of user experience and the actual output. A variety of techniques and approaches are available to test digital productions’ usability and the related user experience. It is possible to measure and evaluate the production’s usefulness, including users’ engagement and understanding. However, the best method for assessing museum-related digital productions varies depending on aims, capacity, audience, and local context. In this paper, we demonstrate the strategy we employed to evaluate the particular storyteller panorama tour’s usability, user experience, engagement, and resulting audience understanding. The results of the evaluations showed that storyteller panorama tours could be an effective, attractive, and engaging storyteller method for cultural institutions. However, the findings also indicated that the users’ age, gender, and computer-related experience influence the use and enjoyment levels. We share our experiences and offer an example of how to evaluate a storyteller panorama tour. We believe that the presented evaluation strategy would be applicable to other museum-related projects, as well.

Writing grant applications the wrong way

Academic

I should know better. I get fascinated by a problem, plan it in my head, spend too much time on costing things, over-simplify for clarity’s sake, then run out of time explaining why it is significant and novel. Wrong order, wrong emphasis.

Why not:

  1. Read the marking rubrics.
  2. Start with an immediate problem you can provide evidence has not yet been addressed and reasons why the solution is so important.
  3. Write a few lines about the amazing solution even though you have not created/proved/invented it yet.
  4. Then explain (again) why it is so hard to discover/make/prove/provide but you’ve got this.
  5. Then try to work out steps (backwards, you can re-sort order in MS Excel for example, or Word if you want the reordering done via tables) how to make the impossible possible.
  6. Change the “I Made This Amazing Thing” to “How I will Make This Amazing Thing”.
  7. Change the title from what it is (because people no doubt will be confused by your oh so clever title because they have not and may not read line 32) to X Solves Y for Z.
  8. Tick off against the marking rubrics.

UNESCO Chair of Cultural Heritage and Visualisation

Academic, Digital Humanities, heritage, UNESCO Chair, , , ,

The 2016-2020 UNESCO Chair of Cultural Heritage and Visualisation has ended. First UNESCO Chair at Curtin. Less than 4 years, but various awards/prizes, media releases and press interviews, 3 Australian Research Council (+international) grants, some grant applications still pending.

The next big publication, in February 2021, will be an edited book on virtual heritage, published by Ubiquity Press, edited by Erik Champion. Online chapters will be open access, and suitable for university course reading lists.

Papers available at https://computation.curtin.edu.au/research/groups/unesco-chair-cultural-heritage-visualisation/ but needs updating.

I’d like to thank Hafizur Rahaman, our two PhD students Mafkereseb Bekele and Ikrom Nishanbaev, and the many collaborators and colleagues we met on the journey.

#CFP Culture and Computing C&C2021 Conference

Academic, cfp, Conference, Digital Humanities,

I have been invited by Professor Matthias Rauterberg, Eindhoven University of Technology, onto the program board of C&C: 9th International Conference on Culture and Computing, part of HCI International, 24-29 July 2021, Washington DC, USA, http://2021.hci.international/c&c.html

Culture and Computing is an important research area which aims to address the human-centred design of interactive technologies for the production, curation, preservation and fruition of cultural heritage, as well as developing and shaping future cultures. There are various research directions in the relations between culture and computing: to preserve, disseminate and create cultural heritages via ICT (cf. digital archives), to empower humanities research via ICT (cf. digital humanities), to create art andexpressions via ICT (cf. media art), to support interactive cultural heritage experiences (cf. rituals), and to understand new cultures born in the Internet, Web and Entertainment (cf. net culture, social media, games). The International Conference on Culture and Computing provides an opportunity to share research issues and discuss the future of culture and computing

Submissions

Paper abstracts are due 16 October 2020. Full papers are due 29 January 2021.

Virtual Heritage in Focus

Digital Humanities, virtual heritage

It is a working title (so will change, no doubt, any suggestions?) but here is the working chapter structure sent off for review today (hopefully) with an expected audience, undergraduate digital archaeology/museum studies/heritage students (open access version online):

 Foreword: Classrooms and ProjectsTo be advised
0Virtual Heritage: What is it?Professor Erik Champion
13D Archaeological Reconstructions: The Art of Reasoned SpeculationMr. Robert Barratt
2Photogrammetry: What, How and WhereDr Hafizur Rahaman
3Animating the PastDr Michael Carter
4Mapping Ancient Heritage With Digital ToolsAssoc. Prof Anna Foka, Dr David McMeekin / et al.. 
5Hybrid Interactions in Museums: Why Materiality Still MattersProf Luigina Ciolfi
6Video Games as concepts and experiences of the pastDr Aris Politopoulos, Dr Angus Mol
7Mixed Reality: A Bridge or a Fusion between Two Worlds?Mr. Mafkereseb Bekele
8Getting it Right and Getting it Wrong in Digital Archaeological EthicsDr L. Meghan Dennis (to be added)
9Evaluation in Virtual HeritageAssoc. Prof Panayiotis Koutsabasis
10Authenticity in PreservationProfessor Erik Champion

Perhaps Digital Humanities..

Digital Humanities

should be defined by its aims rather than any “essence” ..

Corso di dottorato di ricerca inSTUDI STORICO-ARTISTICI E AUDIOVISIVICiclo(XXX)Titolo della tesi “APPLICAZIONE DEL DIGITAL STORYTELLINGCOME RISORSA PER IL DIGITAL HERITAGE ITALIANO” Ph.D. thesis, 2018, Massimo Siardi, Udine.

Una delle riflessioni più efficacinel riunire le istanze diverse delle digitali humanities è quella di Erik Champion che sottolinea come la DH«at a fundamental level considers how to integrate computing with humanities & attempts to understand how both computing & humanities must change»

So a definition of DH by aims (what it looks for) rather than essence (what it looks like).

I don’t quite remember writing this in 2015 but I am glad I did.

New OA article: “A Comparative Evaluation of Geospatial Semantic Web Frameworks for Cultural Heritage”

Announcements, digital heritage, Digital Humanities, Open Access, publication, , ,

“A Comparative Evaluation of Geospatial Semantic Web Frameworks for Cultural Heritage” has been published in Heritage and is available online.

by Ikrom Nishanbaev 1,*, Ear Zow Digital 1,2,3 and David A. McMeekin 4,5

Abstract:

Recently, many Resource Description Framework (RDF) data generation tools have been developed to convert geospatial and non-geospatial data into RDF data. Furthermore, there are several interlinking frameworks that find semantically equivalent geospatial resources in related RDF data sources. However, many existing Linked Open Data sources are currently sparsely interlinked. Also, many RDF generation and interlinking frameworks require a solid knowledge of Semantic Web and Geospatial Semantic Web concepts to successfully deploy them. This article comparatively evaluates features and functionality of the current state-of-the-art geospatial RDF generation tools and interlinking frameworks. This evaluation is specifically performed for cultural heritage researchers and professionals who have limited expertise in computer programming. Hence, a set of criteria has been defined to facilitate the selection of tools and frameworks. In addition, the article provides a methodology to generate geospatial cultural heritage RDF data and to interlink it with the related RDF data. This methodology uses a CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model (CRM) ontology and interlinks the RDF data with DBpedia. Although this methodology has been developed for cultural heritage researchers and professionals, it may also be used by other domain professionals.

View Full-Text

PDF Version: https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/3/3/48/pdf

Not actually published yet, but accepted

Academic, archaeology, digital heritage, Digital Humanities, game, heritage, Journal, publication, serious games, virtual heritage, Virtual Reality, , , , ,

I’m very happy that my rather large article “Culturally Significant Presence
In Single-Player Computer Games” has been accepted for the ACM Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage. This is despite its 12,587 words covering 4 major games, and attempting to be more conceptual and provocative than normal in a traditional ACM IT-oriented journal..

Very good reviewers too, actually. They made me work hard. I think my abstract is a bit over JOCCH length so that may change but at moment it is:

Cultural presence is a term that researchers have used to explain and evaluate cultural learning in virtual heritage projects, but less frequently in video games. Given the increasing importance of video games to cultural heritage, this paper investigates explanations of cultural presence that could be communicated by games, especially concerning UNESCO and ICOMOS definitions of cultural significance. The aim is to determine if cultural presence can be communicated via video games and across a range of game genres.

Observations derived from game prototyping workshops for history and heritage were incorporated to help develop a teachable list of desirable game elements. To distinguish itself from the vagueness surrounding theories of cultural presence, a theory of culturally significant presence is proposed. Culturally significant presence requires three components: culturally significant artifacts and practices; an overarching framework of a singular, identifiable cultural viewpoint; and awareness by the participant of both the culturally significant and the overarching cultural framework and perspective (which gives cultural heritage sites, artifacts and practices their cultural significance and relational value).

As awareness of cultural presence requires time to reflect upon, single-player games were chosen that were not completely dependent on time-based challenges. Another criterion was cultural heritage content, the games must simulate aspects of cultural heritage and history, communicate a specific cultural framework, or explore and reconstruct a past culture. Four games were chosen that simulate a culture, explain archaeological methods, portray indigenous intangible heritage, or explain historical-based ecosystems of the past based on educational guidelines. The games are Assassin’s Creed: Origins (and its Discovery Tour); Heaven’s Vault; Never Alone; and a Ph.D. game project: Saxon. Their genres could be described as first-person shooter/open world/virtual tour; dialogue-based puzzle game; 2D platform game; and turn-based strategy game.

The aim is not to evaluate the entire range of interactive and immersive virtual environments and games, but to examine the applicability and relevance of the new theory, and to ascertain whether the four games provided useful feedback on the concept and usefulness of culturally significant presence. A more clearly demarcated theory of cultural presence may not only help focus evaluation studies but also encourage game developers to modify or allow the modification of commercial games for classroom teaching of digital heritage. Game content, core gameplay, secondary gameplay, and game mechanics could be modified to engagingly compel players to consider cultural heritage values and perspectives that are not their own.

teaching one more semester

Digital Humanities

looks like I am teaching again, at very, very short notice.

Will be on the lookout for interesting digital humanities and GLAM datasets that are fairly robust, not too big or small, and would make for interesting visualisation data sets.

Will post some links here when I compile them later this week.

Philosophy in VR

augmented reality, Book, Digital Humanities, Virtual Reality, , , ,

I was intending to propose the following book proposal to a major publisher. I think, with recent events, I will wait until the end of 2020 before I revisit the project/proposal, but any feedback would be useful (too simplistic, not relevant, missing important key ideas etc)..

Below is an abridged extract:

At various conferences over the years, in game studies, virtual worlds, or philosophy of place, I am continually reminded how easily philosophy has been haphazardly inserted into presentations by game, VR, and media studies scholars. But I have also been surprised at the low level of engagement in VR concepts (in terms of computer science and user experience design) by philosophers.

For example, the famous philosopher Hubert Dreyfus conflated the Internet with the World Wide Web in his book On the Internet. The public may not see a distinction between an international organization of servers, and the software that links the webpages that runs on these servers but it is a crucial distinction to make when you are building and deploying VR. However, Professor Dreyfus also made a philosophical and historical error: using Kierkegaard’s and Nietzsche’s criticisms of the 19th century press to extrapolate that they would have hated the Internet (Dreyfus probably meant webpages, not the Internet).

The Internet is now merging, in fits and starts, with VR. There are massive gaps between the popular concept of VR, the development of VR “in the trenches” and the contextual soundness of the philosophers who talk to the public about VR. And very little literature bridging these communities at an accessible and useful level for university students.

This book aims to clarify conflicting interpretations of virtual reality (VR) in a way that would allow beginning scholars to quickly find key philosophers or methods and apply them appropriately to conceptual problems in the development and evaluation of VR projects. It is not a manual to design VR environments, nor a treatise on philosophy to philosophers, but a guide to explaining how even traditional philosophical questions can be re-examined using current and future VR technologies.

Rethinking Virtual Places

3D and game editors, Academic, augmented reality, Book, digital heritage, Digital Humanities, heritage, publication, UNESCO Chair, Virtual Reality, , ,

I mentioned this before (it went through 3 years of reviews) but the (updated) Rethinking Virtual Places book (97,000 words, approx 30 images) will be published by Indiana University Press in The Spatial Humanities series. Probably in 2021.

1-A Potted History of Virtual Reality
2-Dead, Dying, Failed Worlds
3-Architecture: Places Without People
4-Theories of Place & Cyberspace
5-Rats & Goosebumps-Mind, Body & Embodiment
6-Games are not Interactive Places
7-Do Serious Gamers Learn From Place?
8-Cultural Places
9-Evaluating Sense of Place, Virtual Places & Virtual Worlds
10-Place-Making Interfaces & Platforms
11-Conclusion

Assassin’s Creed: What is it doing in the history class?

Academic, AI, Book, book chapter, digital heritage, Digital Humanities, game, heritage, publication, serious games, virtual heritage, visualisation

I’ve been thinking of asking historians, art historians and archaeologists, if they would like to contribute to a new edited book, primarily (or only) on Assassin’s Creed. How do they or could they use it for teaching and research. What new features would they love to see? Could we get some of the professional historians who advised on the series to write their thoughts, advice, and experiences? Perhaps even one of the game designers who worked on the series?

What would be a good title?

  • Assassin’s Creed for Academics: What We Wrote in the Shadows? (What We Taught in the Shadows?)
  • Assassin’s Creed: Academics Take Aim
  • Assassin’s Creed: An Educated Stab in the Dark
  • Assassin’s Creed in the Classroom: Have Eagle, Will Travel
  • update: Alex Butterworth suggested Under the Hood

References

Association with ANU

Digital Humanities, job

CDHRE-ANU Centre for Digital Humanities Research today offered me a 5 year honorary professorship. I’d just like to thank them for their support (and thanks to my referees). It is a formal process but not at all painful.

PS No I am not authorised to speak on behalf of ANU. But I get library membership and maybe office space when I visit (The Australian National University in Canberra is a mere 3,718 km from Perth by car). I have been to CDHR and they are great people with verve, it will be a pleasure to collaborate and to promote CDHR.

Oh and Canberra has platypuses in Lake Burley Griffin. Seriously, I think I saw some on my last trip. Maybe it was a puggle.

Virtual Archaeology Review journal (recommended)

Announcements, digital heritage, Journal, Open Access, publication, virtual heritage

Dr Hafizur Rahaman and I will have an article on virtual /digital 3D heritage repositories published/in press at open-access journal Virtual Archaeology Review – they have interesting articles in press I recommend the journal.

The article is called Survey of 3D Digital Heritage Repositories and Platforms, update: an early version is online:

Champion, E., & Rahaman, H. (2020). Survey of 3D Digital Heritage Repositories and Platforms. The Virtual Archaeology Review (VAR), 11(23). https://doi.org/10.4995/var.2020.13226

 Despite the increasing number of three-dimensional (3D) model portals and online repositories catering for digital heritage scholars, students and interested members of the general public, there are very few recent academic publications that offer a critical analysis when reviewing the relative potential of these portals and online repositories. Solid reviews of the features and functions they offer are insufficient; there is also a lack of explanations as to how these assets and their related functionality can further the digital heritage (and virtual heritage) field, and help in the preservation, maintenance, and promotion of real-world 3D heritage sites and assets. What features do they offer? How could their feature list better cater for the needs of the GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives and museums) sector? 

This article’s priority is to examine the useful features of 8 institutional and 11 commercial repositories designed specifically to host 3D digital models. The available features of their associated 3D viewers, where applicable, are also analysed, connecting recommendations for future-proofing with the need to address current gaps and weaknesses in the scholarly field of 3D digital heritage. Many projects do not address the requirements stipulated by charters, such as access, reusability, and preservation. The lack of preservation strategies and examples highlights the oxymoronic nature of virtual heritage (oxymoronic in the sense that the virtual heritage projects themselves are seldom preserved). To study these concerns, six criteria for gauging the usefulness of the 3D repositories to host 3D digital models and related digital assets are suggested. The authors also provide 13 features that would be useful additions for their 3D viewers. 

Virtual Heritage book

Academic, Announcements, archaeology, augmented reality, digital heritage, Digital Humanities, heritage, Open Access, publication, virtual heritage, Virtual Reality, visualisation

Hello, with eight authors for eight chapters I am proposing a concise guide on virtual heritage to publishers. I believe I have been allowed UNESCO chair/Curtin funding to pay publishing open access fees (so the book can be free as online PDFs) and hopefully reasonably priced to purchase.

I believer we now have two recommendations for external reviewers but we still need to get all author chapter abstracts ready and the proposal to the publisher for approval. Each chapter will be a taut 3500 words with 1-3 images.

Given the book is aimed at graduate or senior undergraduate students who may not be familiar with an overview or specific topics of virtual heritage, what title is best?

Virtual Heritage in Focus?

Virtual Heritage: A Concise Guide?

Also, are we missing an important chapter/theme subject?

Foreword: Classrooms and Projects

Preamble

  1. Past Worlds: Creating and Animating
  2. Gaming Heritage: archaeology and Minecraft
  3. Mixed Reality
  4. Mapping Meaningful Journeys From Ancient Pasts
  5. Photogrammetry at Scale
  6. Photogrammetry for the People: Towards VR
  7. Hybrid Interactions in Museums
  8. Evaluation in Virtual Heritage

Glossary