Tag Archives: Jacobson

My 2015 Virtual heritage writings

Digital Humanities, game, publication, virtual heritage, , , , , ,

Critical Gaming: Interactive History and Virtual Heritage

Ashgate publishing will produce this 240 page 28 black and white illustrations hardcover book written by me in September (or possibly August):

http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9781472422910

“This book explains how designing, playing and modifying computer games, and understanding the theory behind them, can strengthen the area of digital humanities. This book aims to help digital humanities scholars understand both the issues and also advantages of game design, as well as encouraging them to extend the field of computer game studies, particularly in their teaching and research in the field of virtual heritage.”

Contents:

Introduction

Chapters:

  • Digital humanities and the limits of text
  • Game-based learning and the digital humanities
  • Virtual reality
  • Game-based history and historical simulations
  • Virtual heritage and digital culture
  • Worlds, roles and rituals
  • Joysticks of death, violence and morality
  • Intelligent agents, drama and cinematic narrative
  • Biofeedback, space and place
  • Applying critical thinking and critical play

(ISBN: 978-1-4724-2291-0, ISBN Short: 9781472422910)

Would you like to review it? Information is at http://www.ashgate.com/default.aspx?page=2253

The Egyptian Oracle Project, Ancient Ceremony in Augmented Reality

Editor(s): Robyn Gillam, Jeffrey Jacobson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

I contributed a book chapter.

  • Introduction (Robyn Gillam, York University, Canada, and Jeffrey Jacobson, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, USA)

PART I The Egyptian Oracle

  • Chapter 1: Historical Foundations (Robyn Gillam)
  • Chapter 2: Cross-Cultural Analysis (Robyn Gillam)
  • Chapter 3: The Virtual Temple of Horus and Its Egyptian Prototypes (Robyn Gillam)

PART II The Performance

  • Chapter 4: Technical Description (Jeffrey Jacobson)
  • Chapter 5: Mixed Reality Theater and the Oracle (Josephine Anstey and David Pape, University of Buffalo, New York, USA)
  • Chapter 6: Educational Purpose and Results (Jeffrey Jacobson)

PART III The Technology

  • Chapter 7: Puppetry and Virtual Theater (Lisa Aimee Sturz, Red Herring Puppets, Asheville, North Carolina, USA)
  • Chapter 8: Introduction to Virtual Heritage (Erik Champion, Curtin University, Perth, Australia)
  • Chapter 9: The Virtual Temple: Construction and Use (Jeffrey Jacobson)
  • Conclusion (Robyn Gillam and Jeffrey Jacobson)

See more at: http://www.bloomsbury.com/au/the-egyptian-oracle-project-9781474249263/ OR http://www.amazon.com/The-Egyptian-Oracle-Project-Bloomsbury/dp/1474234151

Visiting Fellows to work with me at Curtin University in Visualisation, 2013

3D and game editors, Academic, Architecture, Biofeedback, design, Digital Humanities, game, virtual heritage, visualisation, , , , , , , , , , ,

I am very happy to announce that two Visting Fellows and two Early Career Visiting Fellows will work with me in October and November on various projects.

They are (and please note, dates are provisional):

Visiting Fellows

 

Nov 4-27: Dr Jeffrey Jacobson, http://www.publicvr.org

To provide examples of interactive and immersive environments featuring architecture and archaeology of the ancient world, to run inside Curtin’s new visualisation facility, iDome, Stereo Wall, and/or possibly the Wedge. Upload and run public VR 3D models inside UNITY on the iDome. These are the Virtual Egyptian Temple, Living Forest, Theater District of Pompeii. Prototype ancient heritage sites to run on the 0.5 CAVE (actually it is a Wedge). Design and pilot evaluation environment for potential use in humanities subjects, including history, and the visualisation undergraduate degree.

Nov 16-Dec 16: Dr Rob H. Warren, Canada, http://blog.muninn-project.org
Link 3D models in virtual environments (Unity real-time engine) to the archival databases to create a specific pilot of a World War 1 simulation using accurate historic geo-data, weather data, astronomical data, and historical records. Design and pilot evaluation environment for potential use in humanities subjects, including history, and the visualisation undergraduate degree. Link to colleagues in New Zealand and Canada to discuss potential research collaborations

Early Career Visiting Fellows

Nov 4-11: Andrew Dekker, University of Queensland http://itee.uq.edu.au/~dekker/ OR http://uq.academia.edu/AndrewDekker

We will work together on the following project: Camera tracking and biofeedback for indirect interaction with virtual environments. This project will connect biofeedback devices and camera tracking devices with equipment in the Curtin Data Visualisation Facility (CDVF) and provide a research platform to evaluate how biofeedback can be a meaningful interaction component for virtual environments, especially for augmenting socially believable agents, and to enrich the apparent “life” and “atmosphere” of digitally created architectural environments.

Nov 18-25: Dr Hafizur Rahman, Bangladesh http://bdheritage.info and http://ttclc.net

Create a streamlined 3D model data and 3D virtual environment workflow, analyse and comparing different image modelling tools, and explain how their optimal deployment for community web portals of digitalised cultural heritage.

Acquiring 3D models for artifacts is always expensive, as it typically requires a 3D laser scanner and relevant training. However, 3D modeling of small artifacts is possible to produce with photographs using low cost software such as 3D Som Pro (http://www.3dsom.com/). This software can produce 3D wire mesh and baked images for rendering, which can later be use as a source for augmented reality application for interactive public display. Free AR Toolkit /BuildAR can be used here for making this interactive display for museums/heritage institutes and interested community groups who currently lack high end technological resources and related skills.

We will also compare the above to insight 3D (http://insight3d.sourceforge.net/), which is free and open source. We will produce schematic workflows, incorporating Blender 3D for modeling and we will consider alternatives such as Google SketchUp.