Author Archives: Marcela F. González

Heritage Reconstructed

This blog post is a draft of what will be included in the methods page in the Heritage Reconstructed site. Our aim is to explain our criteria to select the cases (VRs), our technique to find them, and what patterns we have identified based on the VRs we found.

Virtual Reality methods have been used for almost three decades in the field of cultural heritage, specifically, for the reconstruction, visualization, and interpretation of archaeological sites. The Virtual Reconstruction database is organized following two selection criteria: first, we focus on sites that, unlike natural sites, these sites required human intervention and creation, and may include cultural artifacts, architecture, art, religious buildings and objects. Second, we focus on archaeological sites in peril due to poaching, armed conflict, terrorism, war, and environmental damages such as natural disasters and pollution.

We selected the VRs following a snowball technique. First, we explored the UNESCO Word Heritage in danger list. The list includes 53 sites in danger and includes cultural (archaeological) sites and natural sites. We only focused on archaeological sites. We made a search of VRs available online country by country, using different key words to make the search. The UNESCO list allowed us to find some start-ups, artists, and scholars that are also working on virtual reconstruction of archaeological sites in peril and have created VRs on the topic.

Having completed the search following the UNESCO’s list, we identified three patterns: one, there are not many VRs for the sites the UNESCO considers in peril. Second, the VRs available are done in countries and archaeological sites that come from the same geographical region and mostly are in peril, or were destroyed, by war and terrorist groups, e.g., Irak, Libya, Syria, and Afghanistan. Third, the VRs available are done in countries and archaeological sites that are very well known, e.g. Italy and Greece.

 

 

 

Heritage Reconstructed research update

 

I want to reflect about what we have done in the research area since the beginning of the semester. I haven’t seen it yet in the webpage because we have our group meeting tomorrow, but I know that Ashley and Chris uploaded the first two VRs on our website, which is exciting. One of the discussions we had at the beginning of the semester aimed to define what criteria we would consider for searching and mostly for selecting what VRs will be included in our database. We knew that what is available is not a reason per se, and even if we wanted to include what is available, we needed to find a narrative that explains why this is a reason for including a VR in our database.

Our aim was to create a Virtual Reconstruction database of archeological sites or objects. Since this was still too broad, we decided to focus on archeological sites in peril due to environmental damages, armed conflict or war, lack of investment in its preservation, earthquakes and other natural disasters, pollution, and poaching. This delimitation of the scope of the sites that we include in our database is important because it gives our project a strong conceptual lens and a clear standpoint to engage our VR digital project with the VR projects already being developed by different individual and institutions: scholars in universities, people in the game industry, artists, start-ups, among others. The second discussion we had is whether we would focus on a country and region of the world, and whether we would focus on a particular historical period. We decided to leave these options open and it turn out to be a good decision, which will be explained below. The third discussion we had is whether we would include natural sites in danger, e.g., parks, besides archeological sites or objects in peril. We decided to include only VRs of archeological sites, that is, sites that required human intervention and creation, for example, architecture, art, and/or religious buildings. Once we defined these criteria, the purpose of our VR digital project became much clear for all of us, not only in a practical sense, but rather it gave us a better understanding of the project we wanted to create. We needed also a new name, which is: Heritage Reconstructed: Virtualizations of Sites in Peril.

We began by exploring UNESCO Word Heritage in danger list. The list includes 53 sites in danger and includes cultural (archeological) sites and natural sites. We only focused on archeological sites. We made a search of VRs available online country by country, using different key words to make the search. Having completed the search following the UNESCO’s list, we identified two patterns: one, there are not many VRs for the sites the UNESCO considers in danger. Second, the VRs available are about countries and archeological sites that come from the same geographical region and mostly are in danger, or were destroyed, by war and terrorist groups, e.g., Irak, Libya, Syria, and Afghanistan.

We also included VRs sites that randomly appeared in our search thanks to the work of a wise algorithm. We found VRs that are publicly available, but also VRs that were created by the game industry; by start-ups, such as ICONEM, which dedicates to the digitization of endangered cultural heritage sites; Rekrei, a crowdsourced project, which also creates 3D representations of sites in danger; and CyArc-ICOMOS-Google created five VRs of sites taken from UNESCO list, which are mostly in danger due to climate change. We still have to figure out whether we will be able to upload the VRs these organizations have in their sites in our digital project or we will have to include just the link.

As noted previously, Ashley and Chris uploaded two VRs in our website. The following task for us is to review the VRs we have collected and decide which ones we will include, and contact the organizations I mentioned before, which have many VRs on archeological sites in peril, and ask them whether they allow us to upload their VRs in our website.

 

 

Skills – Marcela

Hi All,

As I mentioned the last Tuesday, this is a class in which my aim is to learn digital skills. This semester I am taking a class on GIS. I know to use Excel, SPSS, NVivo. For my own digital project (capstone project), I will have to learn to create a webpage, visualization of statistics, creation of interactive maps, and analysis of photographs. The range of skills I need to learn is broad, and I am willing to learn and assume a more supportive role in this area.

I have certainly an extended experience doing research, in project management, and outreach, though I am not particularly interested in doing something in social media. Those who took classes with me know that as life philosophy I do not use social media.

I think that for two of the projects, it is important to mention that Spanish is my mother tongue and race and ethnicity is one of my fields of specialization.

Among the three projects presented, though I find all of them super interesting, I am more inclined to participate in Kelly’s project. I am academic and I like a lot of her proposal and the fact that she had the imagination and courageous to create a journal. This is something I would like to be part of and gain experience. I also know well the field of publications. I have published myself and I am reviewer in peer-reviewed journals.