Research

Virtual art galleries and museums are not a new thing; they've been around for quite some time in the form of a website where someone can browse images of the objects within a museum. Many of the existing ones are very basic; this one, for example, is simply a barely-designed website where you can click on images of the artworks and see a larger version.

http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/

There are more sophisticated applications available; a good example would be the Smithsonian Museum virtual tour:

http://www.mnh.si.edu/panoramas/

In this, the user can navigate through high quality photographs of the rooms within the museum and see the way the museum is laid out and what is contained in each room. The user clicks on the blue arrows on the floor of the museum to move from room to room, and then there are controls to view all angles of the room in a panoramic style. The National Museum of Ireland also has something similar, on a much smaller scale, available here:

http://www.museum.ie/en/list/360tours.aspx 

I like the Smithsonian's website, but I want my user to have more control - the user should be able to choose their own path rather than walk on a path set by the application, and the user should be able to interact with the objects, for example picking them up and turning them around. I also plan to have a feature whereby the user clicks on the object and an information window opens where they can learn more about the object.

My plan is to create a 3D experience where the user can browse the objects of a museum, pick them up and examine them in detail without having to visit the actual site of the object. I plan to use 3D Studio Max to create the environment and embed it within a website.

One good example of what I would like to achieve is this interactive film, which uses 3D graphics with Web GL to create an interactive experience for the user.

http://thecarpandtheseagull.thecreatorsproject.com/

I hope to be able to use this kind of technology and apply it to the field of digital access to cultural heritage.

http://www.ro.me/tech/

This is a great example of innovative use of WebGL. The creators also provide lots of useful information about the technologies used. They have added interactivity when the user clicks the mouse, which is very much what I'm aiming for. The user can also add to this themselves - there is a section on the site called 'Add to the dream' which allows you to create block creations (similar to Minecraft).