Towards a More Effective Way of Presenting Virtual Reality

Museums Exhibits

Constantinos Terlikkas and Charalambos Poullis

Immersive and Creative Technologies Lab, Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol, Cyprus

Keywords: Virtual Reality Museums, VR Systems, Visualization, Modeling.

Abstract: In this work, we present the design, development and comparison of two immersive applications with the

use of Virtual Reality CAVE technology: a virtual museum following the traditional paradigm for the

museum exhibit placement and a virtual museum where no spatial restrictions exist. Our goal is to identify

the most effective method of arranging museum exhibits when no constraints are present. Additionally we

will present the significance of the folklore museum in cyprus. Since this would affect the design process.

1 INTRODUCTION

Currently in traditional museum spaces, the exhibits

are arranged according to their theme, era or area of

origin. For many years, this has been accepted as the

suitable method for displaying museum exhibits.

However, this placement is restricted in most

occasions by the spatial constraints of each museum

room or building.

On the other hand, no such restrictions are

imposed in a virtual space i.e. in a virtual museum.

According to the initial term “virtual museum”

that was first devised by Tsichritzis and Gibbs in

1991, a virtual museum does not necessarily require

the use of virtual reality technologies. In this paper,

the term “virtual museum” is used to describe a

virtual museum that uses virtual reality technologies.

Two decades since the invention of VR

technologies VR CAVE, can be still considered as

the most reliable technology for virtual reality

The reliability and high quality immersion of the

VR CAVE technology, is the main reason for its

selection for the design and presentation of a

folklore virtual museum.

In 1992, CAVE, the first IPT (Immersive Projection Technology)

was invented at the University of Illinois as the most sophisticated VR

system at that time. The virtual world generated by IPT is of high

quality and is also very stable because the IPT consists of already

commercialized components such as stereo projectors, high-end

graphics workstations.... This high-quality environment enables us to

apply VR technology to more serious applications such as museum

exhibits. In fact, recently, the use of VR technology in museum

exhibits has become one of its most important application fields.

(Tsichritzis and Gibbs, 1991)

In the same way as in any museum, where the

exhibits refer to a different era, in a folklore museum

it would be rather difficult to experience each

exhibit with a simple verbal description.

As we now live in a global society, discovering

and maintaining one’s traditional identity could

contribute to the intellectual evolution of one’s

culture. This kind of knowledge and understanding

could potentially result to mutual respect and further

integration amongst ethnic groups. This could

strengthen a healthy relationship with our origins

and the origins of others, and offer understanding

that could help eliminate racist tendencies and help

cultivate values, such as respect for the environment

and our fellow man.

The introduction of tradition to the field of digital

arts could potentially lead to its global recognition

and contribution; in a more “direct” world, such as

the one the internet and modern means of

communication provided today. Differences and

similarities of one’s traditional identity with other

ethical groups, could initiate discussions or offer a

platform that can assist future research and

development of new knowledge. Ideally, the

unlimited verbal and intellectual wealth, drawn from

research or interaction, with the support of today's

digital media could help better understand ourselves

and other culture.

This research aims to bring out a new form for a

folkloric museum in Cyprus, using the virtual reality

technology and exploring its potentials as a new

approach to how museum exhibits can be

experienced. This approach exists in respect to the

237

Terlikkas C. and Poullis C..

Towards a More Effective Way of Presenting Virtual Reality Museums Exhibits.

DOI: 10.5220/0004844702370241

In Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Computer Vision Theory and Applications (VISAPP-2014), pages 237-241

ISBN: 978-989-758-009-3

 2014 SCITEPRESS (Science and Technology Publications, Lda.)

traditional concept of a museum and aims to create

new additions in the ways that users experience a

museum exhibit.

According to UNESCO’s Constitution

“...ignorance of each other’s ways and lives has been

a common cause, throughout the history of mankind,

of that suspicion and mistrust between the peoples of

the world through which their differences have all

too often broken into war.”(UNESCO Report). The

digital format can allow the museum to be promoted

abroad, transforming it from a national – local to an

international museum.

In the following sections the design for the

development of this project are being analyzed.

Section 2 summarizes the state of the act knowledge

in the area of virtual museums by presenting brief

overview on research done on existing virtual

museums. Section 3 presents the overview structure

of the system and Section 4 presents the design and

developing procedure of the virtual museums.

Section 5 analyses the evaluation process, and

Section 6 describes the conclusions so far.

2 RELATED WORK

Over the past decades there has been rapid a

development of digital technology and computers

graphics. Virtual reality has taken a special place in

the museum area and virtual reality systems already

exist in some museums. This is nevertheless an

exciting area of research that has not been fully

explored. Following are some examples of insights

given from the development of relevant projects.

In the article "Learning in virtual museums" the

aim was the design and evaluation of a virtual

museum recreating an existing museum with an end

purpose to identify its learning opportunities. The

design of the museum succeeded in creating a

pleasant experience for users but the learning

benefits were not as prominent (Mpitros et al.).

Lidunn Mosaker in her article “Visualizing

historical knowledge using virtual reality

technology” discusses virtual reality reconstructions

of historical sites. The article examines whether

visualization reducing the authenticity of historical

sites. In addition the article explores the impact of

user expectations concerning their experience with

the virtual reality. The users felt they were in a

certain space but distinguished it from the real

museum experience. Visitors where aware of the

virtual world not being real but where willing to

believe in its reality (Mosaker, 2001).

According to the article “Real exhibitions in a

virtual museum”, the designer has to develop an

intuitive, consistent, user-friendly, stimulating

virtual environment, with rigid hardware, able to

withstand heavy, everyday use (Lepouras et al.,

2004). This paper presents the findings gathered

from creating a multi-thematic virtual museum that

its end users where visitors of real world museums.

In the paper “Virtual Museums for all:

Employing Game Technology for Edutainment”, is

suggested that the use of 3D game technologies for

the purpose of developing affordable is easy to use

and creates pleasing virtual environments. 3D game

technologies offer sufficient quality for the majority

of the uses of a virtual museum with the extra

advantage of the reduced need for development and

system resources (Lepouras and Vassilakis, 2004).

In the article “Total Displacement: Exhibiting

Folklore and the Boundaries of Museum Space” the

author discusses two ways of creating an open-air

folk museum. The exhibits can be moved from their

original environments and relocated on a constructed

site; or they can be kept at their original places as

exhibits. The author concludes that, by broadening

the theoretical method and recognized, can not be

completed the design and implementation of the

folklore museum (Savaş, 2011).

3 SYSTEM OVERVIEW

So far has been gathered enough Reference material

for the application design. Following this stage the

virtual spaces of the traditional and proposed virtual

museum will be designed and modelled. Pilot

evaluations can be done as soon as the overall

concept is designed along with sufficient material.

The final outcomes will be tested with experts and

potential users.

Data Gather 3.

Virtual Environment Creation 4.

Interaction 5.

Evaluation 6.

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4 DATA GATHER

During the research phase all the photographic

material relating to the exhibits along with verbal

information is being gathered. This allows spherical

understanding for each object that will be placed in

the museum. Photographic materials along with the

experience of the actual objects that are still around

are the stepping-stones for the modelling of the

objects that will be placed in the museum.

5 VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT

CREATION

As the project is still in progress, the work

developed so far includes part of the digital

environments and some of the exhibits (Figure 1).

Figure 1: View of the current work.

The software used for the development of the

application is EON studio, a product that has been

marketed since 1999 (http://www.eonreality.com).

This software supports the operation of VR Cave

and allows 3D authoring for the developing

interactive 3D applications (Figure 2).

Figure 2: EON studio on a VR Cave system.

Below there is a description of certain exhibits that

have been modeled, in which the user will have the

ability to interact with them.

Figure 3. Figure 4. Figure 5.

Figure 6.

Loom “Argaleios”: a machine used for weaving and

is made of wood. The purpose of the loom is to hold

constant the vertical threads of the fabric, facilitating

the horizontal threads knitting (Figure 3).

Spinning wheel “Anemi”: Manufacture of wood

or reeds help in easy reeled (Figure 4).

Threshing tool “Doukani”: plane wood where its

lower part had sharp stones. Used for threshing

grain. The farmer stood or sat on it, as an animal

dragged over cereals (Figure 5).

Hand mill “Sheromili”: Tool used for grinding

grain. Consisted of two cylindrical blocks, placed

one above the other (Figure 6).

5.1 “Traditional ” Virtual Museum –

Spatial Restrictions are Kept

An important part of the research for the

development of this project included regular visits

and recording of the exhibits at the folklore

museums of Cyprus. Since this project aims to create

a different virtual museum experience it cannot be a

representation of an existing museum. Under the

guidance of experts from the relevant government

carriers, which are responsible for the care and

layout of today’s folklore museums we will attempt

to create a virtual museum, that goes beyond the

comparison with existing “real life” museums.

Categories and themes for the exhibits have already

been recorded and help create the paths towards the

completion of this research project. Some examples

include categories such as: dichori (δίχωρη) “two

rooms” bedroom, living room, weaving hall,

kitchen, farm - livestock tools, such as Threshing

tool “Doukani” and Hand mill (Figure 8-9), wine

cellar.

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239

Figure 7: “Traditional”

Virtual museum – Top view.

Figure 8: Hand mill in

“Traditional” Virtual

museum.

Figure 9: Threshing tool in

“Traditional” Virtual

museum.

Figure 10: “Real life”

Virtual museum – Top

view.

5.2 “Real Life” Virtual Museum – No

Spatial Restrictions

After designing and testing the "traditional" virtual

museum the findings and the conclusions will be

used for the explorations of possible solutions for

the design of the “Real life” virtual museum (Figure

10). The exhibits that have been used for the

“traditional” virtual museum will be organized and

presented in the spaces where they were used before

they became museum exhibits. As the items are

located in their original environment (Figure 11), the

user can experience them and interact in ways that in

the modern era does not support, as most of the

exhibits are not currently being used.

The “Real life” virtual museum will be set in a

model Village in Cyprus at an era around the middle

of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth

century, at a time before the introduction of modern

technology to the island. The virtual space allows

the designer to use time, as part of the information

and not as a rigid rule in the design process. Some of

the concepts that are arising from this research

project have potentials for further insights, in the

field of virtual design and can give answers or create

more questions by the end of this project.

Figure 11: Loom and Spinning wheel in “Real life”

Virtual museum.

6 INTERACTION

At this stage arbitrary trials are being done to

determine the navigations style and ways of

interaction that could be used in the development of

the virtual folklore museum (Figure 12).

Figure 12: View of the current navigation style.

7 EVALUATION METHOD

Pilot evaluations can be done as soon as the project

is designed (both virtual museum spaces). This will

provide feedback for final changes and “tuning” of

the virtual museum. The final evaluation will be

conducted by testing the outcome with user groups

that include ordinary users and experts such as

folklorist, curators and historians.

The evaluation process can offer understanding on

the ways that people use to navigate and interact

within the virtual museum and how interfaces and

object placement can affect the virtual behaviour.

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We will also attempt to evaluate, how and if the

users through these applications obtain new

knowledge

After a tour in both virtual museums following a

common scenario, the users will be asked to

complete a questionnaire that will help evaluate their

overall experience (Figure 13).

Scenario: the users are given a short amount of

time to become accustomed to using the application.

Then they have to locate a number of specific

objects (ex. grind flour tool, wheat milling grape

tool.) and interact with them. The same guides and

constrains will be given for both applications. After

the completion of the virtual visit, the users along

with answering the questioner will have to assess

which of the two virtual museums offered better

information on the objects and the era they

represent.

The evaluation can give insights relating to the

users’ navigation habits and interaction desires in

such virtual environments and their interfaces.

Figure 13.

Questioner - Basic questions

 Are you a connoisseur of Cyprus folklore?

 How often do you come across with the Cypriot folklore in

your everyday life?

 Do you believe that knowledge and also the maintenance of

folklore of is important?

 Do you like visiting museums?

 How often do you visit museums?

 Which kind of museums do you prefer to visit?

 How would you describe your relationship with

technology?

 What is your opinion on the use of technology in

museums?

 Do you know the term virtual reality?

 Can you mention your most important VR experiences?

 What is your opinion for the use of VR technology in

museums

 How would you describe your tour in the museum?

 Do you think that the design of the museum gave you the

opportunity to move with freedom in the application or do

you think that there were restriction.

 Do you believe that the contact you have with the

following exhibits, helped you to understand more about

their use? Loom, Spinning wheel, Threshing tool and Hand

mill

8 CONCLUSIONS

The quest for the best way to present in the virtual

space this kind of exhibits created the need for the

development of this research project. As mentioned

above, this is a project still in progress. Nevertheless

the results so far indicate the positive prospects of

the research being done.

Upon completing this project, the end goal is to

create new perspectives in the design of virtual

museums and how knowledge of folk culture can be

preserved.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work is part of the IPE/NEKYP/0311/02 "VR

CAVE" project (http://www.vrcave.com.cy) and is

financially supported by the Cyprus Research

Promotion Foundation and the European Structural

Funds.

REFERENCES

Dennis Tsichritzis & Simon Gibbs, Virtual Museums and

Virtual Realities, International Conference on

Hypermedia & Interactivity in Museums.1991

Michitaka Hirose, Virtual Reality Technology and

Museum Exhibit, The International Journal of Virtual

Reality, 2006, 5(2):31-36.

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/resources/report/the

-unesco-world-report-on-cultural-diversity/

John Mpitros, Luke Dimitropoulos, John Vrellis, Maria

Verra, Christos Sintoris and Nikolaos Avouris,

Learning in virtual museums

Lidunn Mosaker, Visualising historical knowledge using

virtual reality technology, Digital Creativity 2001,

Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 1–194

G. Lepouras, A. Katifori, C. Vassilakis, D. Charitos, Real

exhibitions in a virtual museum, Virtual Reality (2004)

7: 120–128, DOI 10.1007/s10055-004-0121-5

George Lepouras & Costas Vassilakis, Virtual Museums

for all: Employing Game Technology for Edutainment,

Department of Computer Science and Technology

University of Peloponnisos, 2004

Ayşen Savaş, Total Displacement: Exhibiting Folklore

and the Boundaries of Museum Space, Millî Folklor,

2011, Yıl 23, Sayı 90

http://www.eonreality.com/

Anal

sis

Grou

A Grou

“Real life”

Virtual museum

“Traditional ”

Virtual museum

Interview/

uestione

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