Research

WHY?

Since the beginning of the H. Dip I have had a strong interest in 3D graphics. The idea of making a game using 3D technology was very attractive to me, but I felt that the video game industry is so large that my contribution would not be valuable in terms of the bigger picture; I can never compete with games being made by the big studios. I then began to think about the various ways in which 3D graphics could be used to enhance sectors that would not traditionally use this type of technology, which led me to the idea of the 3D museum. I have volunteered in several galleries, many of which have low-quality websites and need something within their sites to make their attractions more appealing. This project is thus primarily motivated by my interest in history, museums and galleries.

Benefits

In terms of its benefits, the project creates a useful resource for the museum to advertise itself, while aligning the museum with cutting edge technology which is not often associated with museums, particularly in Ireland, where the sector is somewhat stagnant despite our wealth of cultural heritage. It also provides an interesting way to get people interested in our cultural heritage by providing a platform they will not have used before to explore the possibilities of Ireland’s history.

The museum for which I create the application will benefit from having a high-tech way to advertise itself, and hopefully draw in more visitors. It will assist tourists in planning their trip to the west of Ireland, as it will show them what is available in this area and help them to make a decision (hopefully a positive one) as to whether they wish to visit Lough Gur. It will be a useful resource for educators, who may wish to get their classes interested in the history of the area; it will provide an element of technology and newness to a subject often perceived as boring. I also expect this project to benefit the general public, as it will provide access to information in an interesting new format.

In terms of personal benefit, I will be learning technologies that I have not yet studied in order to be able to realise the ambition of the website. I am fascinated by the prospect of using WebGL and I think the project will be helpful in terms of both my personal and professional development. If I don’t use WebGL, I will be using Unity, which again will be of great benefit to me to learn.

Market research

In market research conducted amongst my peers, several trends have emerged. The majority stated that they wished to be able to zoom in on objects within the museum and examine them in close range. This has always been part of my plan so I am glad that people think it is useful. Other useful suggestions included the use of an index to let the user know exactly what is in the museum. While my museum will be very small, I expect this to be very beneficial to the user and so plan to include it; I expect it will greatly improve user experience. Another suggestion was to include links to other sites with information on the objects and that time period. This is a good suggestion in principle; however I expect the finished product to be linked to the Lough Gur website, which will have the most relevant information, so I don’t think this is a necessary step. It was suggested to me that users might be able to upload their own content, such as photos they have taken, to the site. This may be useful but I have not yet made a decision on whether to implement it.

I have contacted Lough Gur and they are very willing to co-operate. I expect to meet with the manager there later this week. At this meeting I will find out more from them about what they think users might find interesting in the application, and what they would like to see in it.

Competition

There is not a huge amount of competition in this field per se, in that no Irish museum has employed this technique. The closest we have is the ability to view 3D models of the National Museum, which is in some ways more useful than my idea in that they have actual 3D scans; however, it doesn’t provide the user with a complete experience – the environment is not modelled and the user does not have a great deal of  control over what he/she does in the environment. (http://www.askaboutireland.ie/reading-room/arts-literature/the-virtual-museum/digitisation-in-depth/prehistory/)

In terms of similar work from which I can learn, the most successful implementation that I have seen is the 3D fashion museum created to showcase the career of the designer Valentino Garavani (www.valentinogaravanimuseum.com/enter-the-museum). This is available as both a downloadable application and a browser version. I looked at the browser version as it most relevant to my own aims. Unity was used to create this project, which I may look into using if WebGL proves to be impracticable.

The way this web application works is mainly through mouse-click navigation. The user navigates around various different exhibits in the museum by clicking on doorways. The user is brought to the doorway and enters the exhibit. This is the extent of control the user has over their own movements. This has advantages and disadvantages; it makes things easier for the designer rather than having to program the various steps the user could take when all that is needed is a trajectory, and it ensures the user doesn’t go where you don’t want them to go. For my own project I had planned to use navigation based on use of the keyboard, but I now prefer this idea. However, it can be frustrating for the user not to have full control; I found it irritating that no matter how I clicked and dragged the mouse, I had no facility to view the backs of the dresses.

It is similar to my ideas in a lot of ways – you can click on an object which then gives you a close-up view and some information. I hope to provide more information on a smaller amount of objects, but the principle is essentially the same. The panoramic views give a good idea of the architecture of the museum, which is very well executed. You can pan the camera by dragging the mouse in a particular direction, though this has its limitations as mentioned above. The application uses sound and video very nicely, but I do not plan to do this for copyright reasons. If I were to expand this as a commercial operation I would most definitely explore this possibility.

In other work, there are some good example of WebGL based 3D design, however I have yet to find any online museums that use this technology. The website for Rome: “3 Dreams of Black” (www.ro.me) is extremely interesting. It again provides user interactivity with the click of the mouse, by altering the image the viewer sees (below). However, the user is guided on a path, rather than choosing their own path. The only part where there is scope for the user to navigate for themselves is towards the end; it is not the biggest part of the application, whereas I expect it to feature strongly in my project. The website gives quite a lot of information about how that project was built, including providing the code used to make it.

The Carp and the Seagull (http://thecarpandtheseagull.thecreatorsproject.com/) is another excellent example of the use of WebGL in terms of the aesthetic it creates (below), however there is not much in the way of navigation in this particular example.

WHAT?

The aim of this project is to improve public awareness of and access to the artefacts at Lough Gur through the use of a 3D online museum, which I hope to link to Lough Gur’s own official website.

My objective is to create a web application allowing the user to enter a virtual museum at Lough Gur and look at the objects inside, perhaps touching them and turning them around. The user should be able to navigate from a starting point, which will give them an overview of the Lough Gur area, to the door of the virtual museum. The user will have the option of going inside or panning around them to find information on the setting. Once inside the museum they will be able to view objects and interact with them with the click of the mouse. I have not yet decided whether the user will be able to pick up objects or just to move around them. There will be an index from which the user can find out what is in the museum, thereby being able to choose what is of interest to them and avoid anything else.

HOW?

This plan is subject to my discussions with the management at Lough Gur, as I expect their input will be very beneficial to the planning of the application.

I plan to create a simple, appropriate site design in which to embed the 3D museum. This will most likely consist of a home page, in which the user clicks on an opening scene in order to enter the application; an index page listing the items in the museum; and an acknowledgments page, in which I plan to document the technology used and the sources of historical information.

I will create 3D models of the area of Lough Gur, a model of a museum building, and some artefacts inside the building. I will animate the user’s movements using key frames. I then plan to export the models and animation to Maya, in which I can use the Inka 3D plugin to convert to WebGL. I will then embed the animation into the webpage using HTML5 canvas elements.

I expect to add Javascript functionality, or a PHP database to store information on objects/local area, or both. This is one of the areas that I am unsure how to achieve, so I will be doing more research on this.

My initial tests have not yet been completed; I have encountered several problems in testing out the viability of using WebGL. When importing to Maya from 3DS Max, the integrity of the animation is compromised; the time sequence is much faster. I am unsure at the moment as to whether this is an issue with the time sequence setup in Maya that I can change or if it is a problem more difficult to troubleshoot. I am also having trouble installing the Inka 3D plugin to my computer. I have followed all the appropriate steps, and when this didn’t work I made several adjustments according to common sense. However, nothing yet has worked. I may have to abandon this methodology, as I cannot think of any other way to make it work; I have consulted the online community to no avail.

I may also look at the idea of using Unity. This is what is used in Valentino’s museum. WebGL is the ideal platform for what I would like to do, but if it is not possible, Unity seems to provide an excellent alternative.

Design and implementation

I plan to design the 3D animation using 3DS Max or Unity, depending on whether I will be able to install the Inka plugin. If not, it will definitely be Unity. I am currently looking at the idea of using relief maps of the Lough Gur area and finding a way to import the actual terrain into the software for mapping.

            I expect to use Dreamweaver to design the website. I will create several mockups and then design based on the results of these, using a combination of HTML5 and CSS3. I will attempt to embed to the website, using WebGL if I design with 3DS Max, or the inbuilt tools in Unity if that is what I use. I am unsure as yet how to implement the interactivity in terms of clicking on the items to receive information; it will most likely involve Javascript in WebGL, but I believe there are inbuilt tools in Unity that allow for this type of functionality.

User requirements

I expect the user to be able to click on a 3D modelled object which will give the user access to the web application. The user will be brought through an animation of going down a path to access the museum, the objective here being that they are able to view Lough Gur and its surrounds on their way. At the end, they reach the entrance to the museum. They have the option of hovering over areas of the opening scene and clicking on points of interest to find information, or going inside the building. Once inside the building they will be presented with 3D models of objects from the area, which they can then look at and interact with. There will be the option of clicking on the objects to retrieve information, or simply to pick them up and turn them around. There will be an index available to assist the user in making decisions about what they would like to look at and what they would like to avoid; the application should be focused on allowing the user to do what is enjoyable to them as individuals.

Final deliverables

I plan to deliver a webpage in which a 3D online museum is embedded. This will hopefully link to Lough Gur’s official website. I will also create a page of acknowledgments. I am unsure as to whether I will create a separate page for the index or if this will appear on the home page with the 3D museum.

I will also produce a final project report which will detail all the processes undertaken.

Tools needed

As the methodology of the project has yet to be finalised, the tools needed will vary according to the approach I end up taking. The main issues involve the programs required; WebGL will require the use of 3DS Max, Maya and Inka 3D, as well as the HTML5 canvas, whereas Unity will require less interchanging between different programs. I may have use for a graphics tablet to aid in creating the models. I will also need the use of a computer for rendering, as this may take a long time.

Testing

The project will require a continuous process of testing every time a stage in the project is completed. For example, I already plan to bring a 3DS max animation into Maya and put on it a website with WebGL, thereby testing my own ability to do that successfully. I have encountered several problems with this approach as outlined above. I will validate the website element in W3. When I start to add JS I will have to test constantly, but that is common practice anyway.

Project requirements

The user must get a good overall overview of the area and history of Lough Gur through navigation through a 3D replica environment. To facilitate this, the webpage in which the museum must be properly coded and easy to use; there should be no doubt as to how to access the material and it should be an aesthetically pleasing experience for the user. Information on browser recommendations must be available to the user, as WebGL currently is not fully functional in all browsers; Google Chrome is the recommended browser and the user should be made aware of this so that they are not met with frustration when the application does not work on another browser. This is unlikely to be a problem if Unity is used.

When in the 3D environment, the user must be able to survey the area, possibly by dragging the mouse, and get an overall view of the area. The user must then be able to navigate closer to specific objects within the design, which they will be able to see in more detail. A click of the mouse should bring the user to where they want to go. The user will be able to read information about objects by clicking on the objects. This will require strong backing from either a database or Javascript functionality.

Simplicity of design is going to be very important for the website aspect of the project. The navigation must be very straightforward in order to allow the user to access the information they want with the minimum of stress.

In short, the whole project should provide a good overview of the history of Lough Gur, with interesting visual and interactive cues to encourage users to visit.

Deliverables

The final result of my project will be one to three webpages. The home page will have WebGL capabilities, supporting 3D models and animation. If WebGL is not feasible, Unity will be used.

The second page is likely to be the index page, although I may still incorporate it within the 3D museum itself. This will document everything you can see within the 3D space and will aid with user navigation.

The final page will list acknowledgments. This is particularly important for WebGL, as the use of this technology draws heavily on the work of others, and many have shared their expertise by explaining the code used and how the design was implemented (see above, www.ro.me). I will also be getting a lot of my historical information from management at Lough Gur so it will be important to acknowledge this in the site.