Creating and Using Virtual Reality:a Guide for the Arts and Humanities #

AHDS 2002 #

Edited by Kate Fernie and Julian D. Richards #

With contributions by Tony Austin, Rachael Beach, Aaron Bergstrom, Sally Exon, Marc Fabri, Michael Gerhard, Catherine Grout, Stuart Jeffrey, Mike Pringle, Damian Robinson, Nick Ryan, Melissa Terras #

Additional Case Studies by Kate Allen, Clive Fencott, Learning Sites, Anthony McCall #

• Acknowledgements

Section 1: Overview and Objectives #

• 1.1 Who is this Guide for?
• 1.2 Introducing virtual reality
• 1.3 How to use this Guide
• 1.4 Other guides in this series

Section 2: Virtual Reality: History, Philosophy and Theory #

• 2.1 What is virtual reality?
• 2.2 Origins of virtual reality
• 2.3 Flexibility and interaction
• 2.4 Applications
• 2.5 Virtual reality formats
• 2.6 Theoretical considerations for the development of virtual reality projects

Section 3: Virtual Reality Methods and Techniques #

• 3.1 Introduction
• 3.2 Good practices for creating virtual reality
• 3.3 User requirements
• 3.4 Building the world
• 3.5 Hardware, testing and maintenance
• 3.6 Bubble worlds
• 3.7 Virtual Reality Modeling Language
• 3.8 X3D
• 3.9 Java and Java3D
• 3.10 Other environments

Section 4: Collaborative Virtual Environments #

• 4.1 CVE technology; how does it work?
• 4.2 User representation
• 4.3 Interaction and communication
• 4.4 Systems overview
• 4.5 Active Worlds
• 4.6 Blaxxun

Section 5: Documenting Data from a Virtual Reality Project #

• 5.1 Planning for the creation of digital data
• 5.2 Project documentation
• 5.3 Documenting the audience
• 5.4 Documenting methods and techniques
• 5.5 Documenting the delivery platform
• 5.6 Reporting project outcomes
• 5.7 Description of archive

Section 6: Archiving Virtual Reality Projects #

• 6.1 Introduction to archiving virtual reality projects
• 6.2 Digital archiving strategies
• 6.3 Archiving particular virtual reality formats
• 6.4 Guidelines for depositing digital archives
• 6.5 Depositing virtual reality with the Arts & Humanities Data Service

Section 7: Resource Discovery #

• 7.1 Access and use
• 7.2 Metadata and virtual reality projects

Appendices #

• Appendix 1: Author biographies
• Appendix 2: Documentation checklist
• Appendix 3: Information standards

Bibliography and Glossary #

• Glossary
• Bibliography

The Virtual Reality Case Study Library #

• How to locate browsers and plug-ins
• Netiquette in Collaborative Virtual Environments

• 1: Brancusi’s Mademoiselle Pogany (VRML)
• 2: Exorcising the Flesh (VRML)
• 3: Virtual Saltburn by the sea: Creative content design for virtual environments (VRML)
• 4: Learning Sites (Bubble world/VRML)
• 5: Virtual Wroxeter: Roman fortress (Superscape)
• 6: Quest for Canterbury's lost Roman Temple and metadata case study
• 7: CyberAxis (Blaxxun)
• 8: Building Babel II (Blaxxun)