Dimitrios Christopoulos

Reviving the past: cultural heritage meets virtual reality

The use of immersive virtual reality (VR) systems in museums is a recent trend, as the development of new interactive technologies has inevitably impacted the more traditional sciences and arts. This is more evident in the case of novel interactive technologies that fascinate the broad public, as has always been the case with virtual reality. The increasing development of VR technologies has matured enough to expand research from the military and scientific visualization realm into more multidisciplinary areas, such as education, art and entertainment. This paper analyzes the interactive virtual environments developed at an institution of informal education and discusses the issues involved in developing immersive interactive virtual archaeology projects for the broad public.

The ancient olympic games: being part of the experience

This paper presents the virtual reality applications that the Foundation of the Hellenic World has produced associated with the Olympic Games in ancient Greece. The separate virtual reality shows are presented in terms of interactivity and educational value. The technical aspects of the productions are next explained in detail, with an emphasis on character animation, dynamics and occlusion culling for surround screen projection environments. These techniques were mostly utilised in the recent production regarding the ancient pentathlon, where much effort has been made to recreate the feeling of the games and help the user/spectator be an interacting part of the edutainment activity.

Media productions for a dome display system

As the interest of the public for new forms of media grows, museums and theme parks select real time Virtual Reality productions as their presentation medium. Based on three-dimensional graphics, interaction, sound, music and intense story telling they mesmerize their audiences. The Foundation of the Hellenic World (FHW) having opened so far to the public three different Virtual Reality theaters, is in the process of building a new Dome-shaped Virtual Reality theatre with a capacity of 130 people. This fully interactive theatre will present new experiences in immersion to the visitors. In this paper we present the challenges encountered in developing productions for such a large spherical display system as well as building the underlying real-time display and support systems.

Real-Time Motion Capture Technology on a Live Theatrical Performance with Computer Generated Scenery

The employment of innovative forms of technology in the areas of art and entertainment is receiving significant attention from the research community in the context of evaluating new forms of expression. Recent developments in tangible interaction, pervasive sensing, wearable computing, and mobile communications bring about the potential to connect, in an unprecedented manner, persons to places (real and virtual) and media, as well as to other persons and objects. The work presented here brings together a research team that is multidisciplinary, scientists, engineers, 3D-artists along with members from the art domain such as stage director, theatrical costumier, choreographer and actors, in order to synthesize a live theatrical performance that jointed technology and art. Real time motion capture data was streamed on a multi-screen topology, while real time generated virtual scenery was creating the virtual context of each act. Live actors were interacting with a digital avatar that was rigged to a motion capture suit through out the theatrical act. The entire setup was evaluated on a theatrical case study that was presented to audience at the ”Theatron”, a reconfigurable space at the cultural center of Hellenic Cosmos, providing significant feedback on the acceptance of utilizing such a technology both from the audience perspective as well as the experts that live theatrical performances involve.

Using Virtual Environments to Tell the Story: "The Battle of Thermopylae"

Virtual environments have been valued as being extremely motivating for learners and therefore are employed as an innovative, more accessible framework to deliver education and entertainment to the public. Recent advances in creating videogame applications imbedded with effective learning principles, along with the evolution of human computer interfaces performed within the entertainment industry, suggests that a combination of successful practices in these areas could potentially transform virtual environments to a significant educational tool that could facilitate the learning process. This paper describes a virtual reality exhibit implemented for the museum of Thermopylae located at the site of the original battle, near the city of Lamia in Greece. We utilized storytelling techniques and principles of modern videogames to disseminate historical knowledge about the battle and the associated legends. After describing the hardware and software components comprising this installation we elaborate over the educational techniques designed to reinforce the strength of virtual reality technology as a mean of designing educational experiences in the context of historical events.

Enhancing virtual reality walkthroughs of archaeological sites

This paper describes the methodological aspects of the application of various established and new graphics techniques in virtual reality applications, in order to visually enrich conventional walkthroughs and extend the common capabilities of virtual environment visualization platforms. The paper describes these techniques and goes to the extent of explaining various practical implementation issues. Examples and application case studies are provided to demonstrate the enhancements.

Virtual reality systems and applications: the ancient olympic games

This paper presents the virtual reality systems, interaction devices and software used at the Foundation of the Hellenic World (FHW). The applications that FHW has produced, associated with the Olympic Games in ancient Greece, are then detailed. The separate virtual reality shows are presented in terms of interactivity and educational value. Technical aspects of the productions are explained, with an emphasis on surround screen projection environments. These techniques were mostly utilized in the recent production regarding the ancient Olympic Games, where much effort has been made to recreate the feeling of the games and help the user/spectator be an interacting part of the edutainment activity.

Multimodal Interfaces for Educational Virtual Environments

Educational applications often are slow to leverage and use new interaction devices in order to bring new value and allow new forms of gameplay. Following decades of research on how to use 3D simulation and Virtual Environments in education, attention has recently turned to exploring Multi-User-Virtual-Environments for the educational community. In the following paper we present the results of a pilot simulation battle, created for educational purposes combining the positive aspects of multi-user virtual environments, edutainment VR applications and new Human Computer Interaction (HCI) interfaces. We present the technology used, as well as an evaluation case study of the human-computer interaction results.

Digital storytelling within virtual environments: the battle of thermopylae

Until recently virtual environments and videogame applications rarely incorporated any deep cultural or educational principles. Current research in the area of virtual reality applications, clearly indentify that they are extremely motivating for learners and therefore can be employed as an innovative, more accessible framework to deliver education while at the same time entertain the public. On the other hand, recent advances in videogame applications and human computer interfaces, demonstrate that a combination of game applications with effective learning principles and intuitive human computer interfaces could potentially transform virtual environments to a significant educational tool that could significantly facilitate the learning process. This paper describes an interactive virtual reality application that we developed for the museum of Thermopylae located at the site of the original battle, near the city of Lamia in Greece. We utilized storytelling techniques and principles of modern videogames to disseminate historical knowledge about the battle and the associated legends. We present the hardware and software components comprising the proposed installation, while we elaborate over the educational techniques designed to reinforce the strength of virtual reality technology as a mean of designing educational experiences in the context of cultural heritage related information.

Virtual reality systems and applications

In this tutorial we will present the infrastructure required, both software and hardware, to create the Virtual Reality (VR) illusion. The history and the application areas of VR will be presented. From the software required to the image generator to the different display systems -- both head based and projection based -- all components of a VR system as well as practical deployment issues will be investigated. The stereo depth principle will be explained along with the different stereo methodologies available today. Aspects of a VR experience like immersion and collaboration will be explored. Other topics include the physical interface and interaction devices and the methods of manipulating a Virtual Environment by tracking users and devices.An attempt will be made to differentiate VR from pre-rendered Computer Graphics by presenting the issues concerning Real Time graphics. Finally possible future developments in the areas of Virtual Reality technology and Virtual Environments will be presented.