What lies beneath: virtual and augmented reality techniques for maritime heritage

Robert Stone

What lies beneath: virtual and augmented reality techniques for maritime heritage

Robert Stone

Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review

Abstract

Recent developments in the fields of Virtual and Augmented Reality technologies offer radically new and affordable solutions for those wishing to exploit Digital Heritage techniques for wrecksite survey, computer reconstruction and subsequent interpretation by observers and specialists from all walks of life. A collaborative project undertaken between 2006 and 2008 with Plymouth’s National Marine Aquarium was the stimulus for the maritime heritage projects to be described in this presentation. The result of this collaboration was a Virtual Reality reconstruction of the wreck of the ex-RN Leander Class Frigate Scylla, enabling users to “dive” on the wreck, in effect controlling a simulated ROV. A subsequent exercise utilised more advanced, particle-based underwater rendering effects to demonstrate the use of Virtual Reality in training manned submersible pilots to plan for their final approach to a disabled nuclear submarine. More recently, the University of Birmingham’s Human Interface Technologies Team has been developing further maritime heritage demonstrations with the aim of showing how, with the appropriate blend of technologies, it is possible to engage with subject matter experts – from historians to divers – to deliver rich, educational, interactive digital heritage “experiences”, capable of being exploited online, in museums or other fixed locations and even in situ – at or in the vicinity of the wrecksite. The chapter describes a number of recent successful examples of this process, including the HMS Amethyst (1957), the A7 submarine (1914), the Anne (1690) and the Maria (1774) and the UK’s first underwater habitat, the GLAUCUS (1965).

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Underwater worlds
Subtitle of host publication	submerged visions in science and culture
Editors	Will Abberley
Publisher	Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Chapter	10
Pages	208-238
Number of pages	30
ISBN (Print)	9781527513938
Publication status	Published - 1 Oct 2018

Bibliographical note

Underwater Worlds throws open a new area in the emerging field of “blue” environmental humanities by exploring how subaqueous environments have been imagined and represented across cultures and media. The collection pursues this theme through various disciplinary perspectives and methodologies, including history, literary and film criticism, myth studies, legal studies and the history of art. The essays suggest that, since the nineteenth century, technologies of underwater exploration have generated novel sensory experiences that have destabilized conventional modes of representation and influenced new aesthetic forms from fiction and television to virtual reality. The collection also examines how representations of underwater environments have reflected and critiqued humans’ relationships with marine ecology and life-forms. It reflects on the deeper cultural and symbolic resonances of mythical figures such as mermaids, sea monsters and the ghosts of drowned seafarers. The contributions further reveal myriad political, ideological, gendered and racial dimensions of representing underwater environments.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Arts and Humanities(all)
Computer Science(all)

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

1 Conference contribution
1 Paper
1 Article
1 Editorial

Virtual Scylla: Interactive 3D and Artificial Life for Marine Virtual Heritage
Stone, R. & Guest, R., Jun 2012, Beyond Boundaries, IKUWA 3: 3rd International Congress on Underwater Archaeology. Henderson, J. (ed.). Germany: Rudolf Habelt, p. 485-491
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution
The Virtual Scylla: an exploration of “serious games”, artificial life and simulation complexity
Stone, R., White, D., Guest, R. & [No Value], N. V., 1 Mar 2009, In: Virtual Reality. 13, 1, p. 13-25 13 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

9 Citations (Scopus)
Special issue: Virtual heritage guest editors's introduction
Addison, A. C., Refsland, S. T. & Stone, R. J., 3 Jul 2006, In: Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments. 15, 3
Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › peer-review
The Shotton River and Mesolithic Dwellings: Recreating the Past from Geo-Seismic Data Sources
Ch'ng, E., Stone, R. & Arvanitis, T., 1 Jan 2004.
Research output: Contribution to conference (unpublished) › Paper

Cite this

@inbook{5c166db38e534f33a7491cb899d76db6,

title = "What lies beneath: virtual and augmented reality techniques for maritime heritage",

abstract = "Recent developments in the fields of Virtual and Augmented Reality technologies offer radically new and affordable solutions for those wishing to exploit Digital Heritage techniques for wrecksite survey, computer reconstruction and subsequent interpretation by observers and specialists from all walks of life. A collaborative project undertaken between 2006 and 2008 with Plymouth{\textquoteright}s National Marine Aquarium was the stimulus for the maritime heritage projects to be described in this presentation. The result of this collaboration was a Virtual Reality reconstruction of the wreck of the ex-RN Leander Class Frigate Scylla, enabling users to “dive” on the wreck, in effect controlling a simulated ROV. A subsequent exercise utilised more advanced, particle-based underwater rendering effects to demonstrate the use of Virtual Reality in training manned submersible pilots to plan for their final approach to a disabled nuclear submarine. More recently, the University of Birmingham{\textquoteright}s Human Interface Technologies Team has been developing further maritime heritage demonstrations with the aim of showing how, with the appropriate blend of technologies, it is possible to engage with subject matter experts – from historians to divers – to deliver rich, educational, interactive digital heritage “experiences”, capable of being exploited online, in museums or other fixed locations and even in situ – at or in the vicinity of the wrecksite. The chapter describes a number of recent successful examples of this process, including the HMS Amethyst (1957), the A7 submarine (1914), the Anne (1690) and the Maria (1774) and the UK{\textquoteright}s first underwater habitat, the GLAUCUS (1965).",

author = "Robert Stone",

note = "Underwater Worlds throws open a new area in the emerging field of “blue” environmental humanities by exploring how subaqueous environments have been imagined and represented across cultures and media. The collection pursues this theme through various disciplinary perspectives and methodologies, including history, literary and film criticism, myth studies, legal studies and the history of art. The essays suggest that, since the nineteenth century, technologies of underwater exploration have generated novel sensory experiences that have destabilized conventional modes of representation and influenced new aesthetic forms from fiction and television to virtual reality. The collection also examines how representations of underwater environments have reflected and critiqued humans{\textquoteright} relationships with marine ecology and life-forms. It reflects on the deeper cultural and symbolic resonances of mythical figures such as mermaids, sea monsters and the ghosts of drowned seafarers. The contributions further reveal myriad political, ideological, gendered and racial dimensions of representing underwater environments.",

year = "2018",

month = oct,

day = "1",

language = "English",

isbn = "9781527513938",

pages = "208--238",

editor = "Will Abberley",

booktitle = "Underwater worlds",

publisher = "Cambridge Scholars Publishing",

}

TY - CHAP

T1 - What lies beneath

T2 - virtual and augmented reality techniques for maritime heritage

AU - Stone, Robert

N1 - Underwater Worlds throws open a new area in the emerging field of “blue” environmental humanities by exploring how subaqueous environments have been imagined and represented across cultures and media. The collection pursues this theme through various disciplinary perspectives and methodologies, including history, literary and film criticism, myth studies, legal studies and the history of art. The essays suggest that, since the nineteenth century, technologies of underwater exploration have generated novel sensory experiences that have destabilized conventional modes of representation and influenced new aesthetic forms from fiction and television to virtual reality. The collection also examines how representations of underwater environments have reflected and critiqued humans’ relationships with marine ecology and life-forms. It reflects on the deeper cultural and symbolic resonances of mythical figures such as mermaids, sea monsters and the ghosts of drowned seafarers. The contributions further reveal myriad political, ideological, gendered and racial dimensions of representing underwater environments.

PY - 2018/10/1

Y1 - 2018/10/1

N2 - Recent developments in the fields of Virtual and Augmented Reality technologies offer radically new and affordable solutions for those wishing to exploit Digital Heritage techniques for wrecksite survey, computer reconstruction and subsequent interpretation by observers and specialists from all walks of life. A collaborative project undertaken between 2006 and 2008 with Plymouth’s National Marine Aquarium was the stimulus for the maritime heritage projects to be described in this presentation. The result of this collaboration was a Virtual Reality reconstruction of the wreck of the ex-RN Leander Class Frigate Scylla, enabling users to “dive” on the wreck, in effect controlling a simulated ROV. A subsequent exercise utilised more advanced, particle-based underwater rendering effects to demonstrate the use of Virtual Reality in training manned submersible pilots to plan for their final approach to a disabled nuclear submarine. More recently, the University of Birmingham’s Human Interface Technologies Team has been developing further maritime heritage demonstrations with the aim of showing how, with the appropriate blend of technologies, it is possible to engage with subject matter experts – from historians to divers – to deliver rich, educational, interactive digital heritage “experiences”, capable of being exploited online, in museums or other fixed locations and even in situ – at or in the vicinity of the wrecksite. The chapter describes a number of recent successful examples of this process, including the HMS Amethyst (1957), the A7 submarine (1914), the Anne (1690) and the Maria (1774) and the UK’s first underwater habitat, the GLAUCUS (1965).

AB - Recent developments in the fields of Virtual and Augmented Reality technologies offer radically new and affordable solutions for those wishing to exploit Digital Heritage techniques for wrecksite survey, computer reconstruction and subsequent interpretation by observers and specialists from all walks of life. A collaborative project undertaken between 2006 and 2008 with Plymouth’s National Marine Aquarium was the stimulus for the maritime heritage projects to be described in this presentation. The result of this collaboration was a Virtual Reality reconstruction of the wreck of the ex-RN Leander Class Frigate Scylla, enabling users to “dive” on the wreck, in effect controlling a simulated ROV. A subsequent exercise utilised more advanced, particle-based underwater rendering effects to demonstrate the use of Virtual Reality in training manned submersible pilots to plan for their final approach to a disabled nuclear submarine. More recently, the University of Birmingham’s Human Interface Technologies Team has been developing further maritime heritage demonstrations with the aim of showing how, with the appropriate blend of technologies, it is possible to engage with subject matter experts – from historians to divers – to deliver rich, educational, interactive digital heritage “experiences”, capable of being exploited online, in museums or other fixed locations and even in situ – at or in the vicinity of the wrecksite. The chapter describes a number of recent successful examples of this process, including the HMS Amethyst (1957), the A7 submarine (1914), the Anne (1690) and the Maria (1774) and the UK’s first underwater habitat, the GLAUCUS (1965).

M3 - Chapter (peer-reviewed)

SN - 9781527513938

SP - 208

EP - 238

BT - Underwater worlds

A2 - Abberley, Will

PB - Cambridge Scholars Publishing

ER -

What lies beneath: virtual and augmented reality techniques for maritime heritage

Abstract

Bibliographical note

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Fingerprint

Research output

Virtual Scylla: Interactive 3D and Artificial Life for Marine Virtual Heritage

The Virtual Scylla: an exploration of “serious games”, artificial life and simulation complexity

Special issue: Virtual heritage guest editors's introduction

The Shotton River and Mesolithic Dwellings: Recreating the Past from Geo-Seismic Data Sources

Cite this