Nume - State of the Art - Virtual Reality: new prospects

A super graphic computer translates graphic scenes into images in real time (Note 3). Projection onto a semi-cylindrical screen creates the illusion of immersion in the simulated world. The immersion is amplified by the use of stereographic glasses.
All of this makes navigation in Virtual Environments (VE) possible. However, to create VEs in which interaction and navigation are in real time, modeling that is optimized for real time l is necessary. This is obtained by designing, on the computer, the geometry of the scene to be reconstructed with ad hoc software. In general, single objects are made up of sets of polygons. Color, material and texture images must be defined and designed digitally. These will cover the geometrical models to create a photo realistic effect. Interactivity, navigation modalities, automatic tours, different viewpoints and input management devices are then programmed (Note 4).
Interaction with virtual scenes with PDA's (Personal Digital Assistant) is foreseeable, in which the reconstructed environment reacts to events generated by the user. Thus, it will be able to furnish useful research information and to be visualized with the portable device (Note 5).

3. The organization of the interdisciplinary work

The CINECA VIS.I.T. Lab's Virtual Cultural Heritage mission includes the creation of real-time applications based on 3D digital models, which are authenticated by historians and archeologists. Our objective is to train, in a multidisciplinary environment, doctoral students, architects, archeologists, and historians who are interested in the development of applications for Virtual Cultural Heritage.
Virtual Cultural Heritage applications are based on the organization of the work in a way that utilizes the diverse professions and implies constant feedback between the computer science and humanistic professionals. The contribution of communication experts and specialists in human machine interaction is also important for the creation of a product that is easily and efficiently used.

4. New Prospects

Our next objectives will deal with the integration of Virtual Cultural Heritage applications developed for immersion environments with Virtual Set and palmtop systems. Virtual Set enables synchronized movement of the virtual environment along with shots from a television or movie camera. Thus hosts and actors can be can be integrated into the digital world that only exists in the memory of a computer. This new space has great potential. The use of portable terminals offers greater possibility to interact in the virtual environments, while delegating the principal navigation and manipulation techniques and system control to the remote system. This allows the user to maintain a sense of presence in the virtual environment and gives him an instrument for visualization and the input of two dimensional data during the virtual experience.

To improve the use these archeological museums and reconstructed virtual environments for diverse users (students, cultural tourists, etc.), increased accessibility and comprehension of the content of the collections is necessary. New paradigms of access and use must be offered. Virtual Reality applications and palm computer interaction will enrich the museum experience and facilitate analysis, restoration and renewal of the products. To this end, the collaboration of CINECA - DEIS (Dipartimento Elettronica Informatica e Sistemistica University of Bologna Department of Electronics, Computer Science and Systems Theory coordinated by Prof. Bruno Riccò) proposes to verify the use of portable computers currently available on the market as terminals for remote user interaction. This will pinpoint the dynamic aspects by requiring simulations of the territory or city (crowd behavior, traffic), statistical analysis, geographical database interrogation and will help create new distributed collaborative data analysis environments for the evaluation of environmental impact as well.