IEEE Multimedia · 2000 · 218 citations · 0 references
ArchitectureArchaeologyHeritage ConservationArchaeological ConservationHeritage SurveyImmersive VisualizationArchaeological Site SurveyAugmented RealityCultural HeritageDigital HeritageImmersive MediaVirtual Reality3D Cultural Heritage Documentation3D Heritage Visualization3D Site VisualizationCultural Heritage VisualizationDigital Documentation Of HeritageDigital Documentation ToolsDigital Heritage ConservationVirtual Reality Heritage
From the pyramids at Giza to Kakadu National Park in Australia, the world's cultural and natural heritage has stood the test of time. The pace of progress threatens these landmarks of our past at an ever-increasing pace. Rapid advances in digital technologies in recent years, from new media to virtual reality (VR) and high-speed networks, have offered heritage some hope. The first wave of VR worlds failed to live up to the promise. Today, the forward march of technology has quietly enabled a second wave of VR applications. Digital tools and techniques offer new hope to the often painstakingly complex tasks of archaeology, surveying, historic research, conservation, and education. These emerging second-generation technologies can be grouped into three domains: 3D documentation (everything from site surveys to epigraphy), 3D representation (from historic reconstruction to visualization), and 3D dissemination (from immersive networked worlds to "in situ" augmented reality). The author reviews these emerging trends.