Virtual Valcamonica: collaborative exploration of prehistoric petroglyphs and their surrounding environment in multi-user virtual reality

In this paper, we present a novel, multi-user, virtual reality environment for the interactive, collaborative 3D analysis of large 3D scans and the technical advancements that were necessary to build it: a multi-view rendering system for large 3D point clouds, a suitable display infrastructure and a...

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Main Authors: Kulik, Alexander, Kunert, André, Beck, Stephan, Matthes, Carl-Feofan, Schollmeyer, Andre, Kreskowski, Adrian, Fröhlich, Bernd, Cobb, Sue, D'Cruz, Mirabelle
Format: Article
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press 2018
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50692/
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author Kulik, Alexander
Kunert, André
Beck, Stephan
Matthes, Carl-Feofan
Schollmeyer, Andre
Kreskowski, Adrian
Fröhlich, Bernd
Cobb, Sue
D'Cruz, Mirabelle
author_facet Kulik, Alexander
Kunert, André
Beck, Stephan
Matthes, Carl-Feofan
Schollmeyer, Andre
Kreskowski, Adrian
Fröhlich, Bernd
Cobb, Sue
D'Cruz, Mirabelle
author_sort Kulik, Alexander
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description In this paper, we present a novel, multi-user, virtual reality environment for the interactive, collaborative 3D analysis of large 3D scans and the technical advancements that were necessary to build it: a multi-view rendering system for large 3D point clouds, a suitable display infrastructure and a suite of collaborative 3D interaction techniques. The cultural heritage site of Valcamonica in Italy with its large collection of prehistoric rock-art served as an exemplary use case for evaluation. The results show that our output-sensitive level-of-detail rendering system is capable of visualizing a 3D dataset with an aggregate size of more than 14 billion points at interactive frame rates. The system design in this exemplar application results from close exchange with a small group of potential users: archaeologists with expertise in rock-art and allows them to explore the prehistoric art and its spatial context with highly realistic appearance. A set of dedicated interaction techniques was developed to facilitate collaborative visual analysis. A multi-display workspace supports the immediate comparison of geographically distributed artifacts. An expert review of the final demonstrator confirmed the potential for added value in rock-art research and the usability of our collaborative interaction techniques.
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spelling nottingham-506922020-05-04T19:47:51Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50692/ Virtual Valcamonica: collaborative exploration of prehistoric petroglyphs and their surrounding environment in multi-user virtual reality Kulik, Alexander Kunert, André Beck, Stephan Matthes, Carl-Feofan Schollmeyer, Andre Kreskowski, Adrian Fröhlich, Bernd Cobb, Sue D'Cruz, Mirabelle In this paper, we present a novel, multi-user, virtual reality environment for the interactive, collaborative 3D analysis of large 3D scans and the technical advancements that were necessary to build it: a multi-view rendering system for large 3D point clouds, a suitable display infrastructure and a suite of collaborative 3D interaction techniques. The cultural heritage site of Valcamonica in Italy with its large collection of prehistoric rock-art served as an exemplary use case for evaluation. The results show that our output-sensitive level-of-detail rendering system is capable of visualizing a 3D dataset with an aggregate size of more than 14 billion points at interactive frame rates. The system design in this exemplar application results from close exchange with a small group of potential users: archaeologists with expertise in rock-art and allows them to explore the prehistoric art and its spatial context with highly realistic appearance. A set of dedicated interaction techniques was developed to facilitate collaborative visual analysis. A multi-display workspace supports the immediate comparison of geographically distributed artifacts. An expert review of the final demonstrator confirmed the potential for added value in rock-art research and the usability of our collaborative interaction techniques. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press 2018-07-30 Article PeerReviewed Kulik, Alexander, Kunert, André, Beck, Stephan, Matthes, Carl-Feofan, Schollmeyer, Andre, Kreskowski, Adrian, Fröhlich, Bernd, Cobb, Sue and D'Cruz, Mirabelle (2018) Virtual Valcamonica: collaborative exploration of prehistoric petroglyphs and their surrounding environment in multi-user virtual reality. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 26 (3). pp. 297-321. ISSN 1531-3263 https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/pres_a_00297 doi:10.1162/pres_a_00297 doi:10.1162/pres_a_00297
spellingShingle Kulik, Alexander
Kunert, André
Beck, Stephan
Matthes, Carl-Feofan
Schollmeyer, Andre
Kreskowski, Adrian
Fröhlich, Bernd
Cobb, Sue
D'Cruz, Mirabelle
Virtual Valcamonica: collaborative exploration of prehistoric petroglyphs and their surrounding environment in multi-user virtual reality
title Virtual Valcamonica: collaborative exploration of prehistoric petroglyphs and their surrounding environment in multi-user virtual reality
title_full Virtual Valcamonica: collaborative exploration of prehistoric petroglyphs and their surrounding environment in multi-user virtual reality
title_fullStr Virtual Valcamonica: collaborative exploration of prehistoric petroglyphs and their surrounding environment in multi-user virtual reality
title_full_unstemmed Virtual Valcamonica: collaborative exploration of prehistoric petroglyphs and their surrounding environment in multi-user virtual reality
title_short Virtual Valcamonica: collaborative exploration of prehistoric petroglyphs and their surrounding environment in multi-user virtual reality
title_sort virtual valcamonica: collaborative exploration of prehistoric petroglyphs and their surrounding environment in multi-user virtual reality
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50692/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50692/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50692/