Viewing the past today
Perhaps this is one reason why some of us, delve so much into the past. For those of us, however, who like to "do" the Acropolis, or the Giza pyramids or perhaps the great Terracotta Tomb, history isn't much more than rubble, frustrating guides and hot, dry summers. Fortunately, a multimedia project called ARCHEOGUIDE presents a rather unique solution that's bound to give historical exploration another dimension. An "augmented reality" of 3-Dimensions to say the least. This ambitious project sought to provide uses with far more than viewable, examinable 3-D images based on a PC. It wanted to give users the whole enchilada of viewing experiences; an entire panoramic view of the site unfolding as one actually walked through its ancient ruins. This would be accompanied by the soothing tones of an educated guide, providing details of whatever was viewed-at the time of its viewing. More than just artificial reality, Augmented Reality superimposes 3-D images on real backgrounds, updating the image according to both perspective and current, on-site physical location of the user. Only through the advent of modern developments such as intelligent adaptive behavioural architectures has augmented reality been made possible in this manner. With future developments in faster, more robust speech and motion recognition tools, it may be possible to regenerate an entire structure as quickly as the eye can perceive it. For now, however, visitors will have to rely on portable packs to interface with and children can even get a cartoon character to keep their interest levels high. Aside from proffering culturally enriched environments, the technology may also be applicable in a number of alternative instances. For one it could be used in field during archeological digs to provide archeologist with a clear idea of the sites layout. It could also be used in educational media, training environments for security personnel and even in mobile computing applications. As such, its capacity to restructure the past can only be measured on its ability to mould the future. For more detailed information, please see: http://www.archeoguide.com
