High-Tech Drones and “Immersive” Displays: Exploiting New Technologies for

Digital Heritage

Prof. Bob StoneDirector, Human Interface Technologies Team

r.j.stone@bham.ac.uk OR profbobstone@aol.com

VR/AR Main Project Areas

www.birmingham.ac.uk/stone and www.birmingham.ac.uk/hit-team

DEFENCE

HEALTHCARE & MEDICINE

HERITAGE

Virtual Lowry, 1995

Virtual Stonehenge, 1996

Apart From a Few Early Attempts …

Virtual Scylla, 2006

Restorative Natural (Forest/Coastal)

Environments for Healthcare

Healthcare is Where it all Started2010 ….

Healthcare is Where it all Started2010 ….

The Places We Chose …

Wembury Bay

Burrator & Sheepstor

Bygone Days & Experiencesfrom Local Inhabitants and Societies

Virtual Burrator

Virtual Burrator Halt

Augmented Lancaster OverBurrator Dam

RAF Harrowbeer

The “Return” of Harry Truman

Burrator Reservoir

What Lies Beneath

Burrator Reservoir

What Lies Beneath

The MUSV Survey Project

With Thanks To …

The Burrator MUSV Survey

Project

Burrator Initial Survey Area

Import into Unity5 forReal-Time Visualisation

Import into Unity5 forReal-Time Visualisation

Sheepstor Bridge

Sheepstor Road

Drake’s Leat

Quarry Remains

Steam Crane Track

Essworthy Farm

RiverMeavy

Virtual Wembury

The 1909 Wembury Docks That Never Were

The 1909 Wembury Docks That Never Were

Virtual Wembury Evening13 December 2012

If the Docks Had Gone Ahead …

HMS Amethyst Returns

Also a Possible Visitor to Wembury

Docks?

The Virtual A7 Project

The 2014 Summer Dives

The A7 Wreck Model

The Maria (1774)

The Virtual MARIA

Hint … We Would Love to Do This … ;o)

The GLAUCUS (September 1965)

Colin Irwin

The Virtual GLAUCUS Project

James Egan Layne(March, 1945; U-399)

Drone (sUAV) Technologies for

Heritage

Pix4D Topographical Reconstruction from Aerial Video)

Drone (sUAV) Technologies for

Heritage

Hooe Lake (Plymouth) Wrecks

Aircraft Crash Sites – The Next Challenge (Foxtor Mire)

Westland Whirlwinds P6975 & P6978 (29 December,1940)

Aircraft Crash Sites – The Next Challenge (Foxtor Mire)

The Anne (1678)

AR Via Quad-/Hexacopter

The Virtual ANNE

First-Person Viewing Version

The “Augmented ANNE” ChallengeTablet Viewing (Beach Level)

The “Augmented ANNE”

ChallengesUAV Viewing (Aerial)

The “Augmented ANNE” ChallengesUAV / Drone Viewing (Aerial)

The “Virtual & Augmented ANNE” Project:Public Engagement: 12 December 2014

The “Virtual & Augmented Mayflower”Project

VR, AR, Avatars, Drones, Public Engagement ...

• “Immersion”, “immersive” environments – they do NOT exist!

• NOBODY has invented the Holodeck, despite ridiculous claims online.

• Wearable technologies (e.g. Head-Mounted Displays, gloves, etc.) – ONLY if the application

and the human factors issues dictate that they are totally necessary (and safe to use!)

• CAVEs/Domes/Theatre-like facilities – appropriate applications? Expense? Functionality?

Academic experiences – the VIP plaything!

• 3D/Stereo viewing – over-hyped. 56% of the population who are between 18 and 38 years

of age have one or more problems with binocular vision.

• Engage and enhance experiences through good content design and stakeholder (public)

engagement, not by showing off “Gucci” interface devices.

Lessons Learned - Virtual

Reality

• AR works well in the lab and in cities, but in coastal/rural areas?

• Registration techniques – which are best for the outside world?

• Wearable technologies – have a long, long way to go ...

• “Future Google Glass” (and emerging competitors) – do not hold your breath.

• Mobile technologies – developing well, but limitations in the outside world (again – safety?).

• Engage and enhance experiences through good content design and regular stakeholder

(public) engagement, not by showing off “Gucci” interface devices.

Lessons Learned – Augmented

Reality

• Digital/Virtual Heritage presents significant development and

implementation opportunities and challenges – multiple contexts of use – museums, galleries,

town centres, open fields, vegetation-dominated sites, coastal paths,

underground, underwater …

• Memories are short! We’re seeing an almost-identical “techno-push” repeat of the 1990s.

• Particularly problematic with relatively cheap interactive technology coming from crowd-

funding initiatives (e.g. Kickstarter, Indiegogo, etc.).

• Too many people believe what they see in “gizmo” newsfeeds online and on YouTube!

• Define end user requirements and content before implementing technology – ALWAYS.

• Be aware of digital exclusion due to remoteness of communities.

• Understand your target audience(s) – their knowledge, skills and attitudes. Work with the

end users – involve the public – not just at the beginning and end of a project, but

throughout.

To Conclude …

Prof. Bob StoneHuman Interface Technologies Team,

University of Birmingham (UK)

r.j.stone@bham.ac.uk OR profbobstone@aol.com

www.birmingham.ac.uk/stone www.birmingham.ac.uk/hit-teamYouTube: https://goo.gl/3893RS

Thank you!