Natural Interaction at Work

Applied Sciences

This paper is situated at the intersection of using Virtual Reality as a tool for cultural heritage preservation and using gesture interaction-based technology in order to achieve touchless, distant interaction of users with reconstructed artifacts. Various studies emphasize the positive effect on the cultural experience brought on by the use of Virtual Reality in a museum context. We build our approach on this idea, by modeling and reconstructing museum exhibits, both small artifacts and large architectural edifices. We propose and design navigation and interaction scenarios, at the same time taking into account present day limitations regarding social interaction, imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. By considering the user in the center of the experience and focusing on enabling him/her to adjust the perspective on the visualized artifacts and to freely interact with them through natural gestures, we allow the user to immerse in the virtual environment and interact with the reco...

2013 Digital Heritage International Congress (DigitalHeritage), 2013

In this paper we focuses on the virtual reconstruction of the Regolini Galassi tomb in Cerveteri, one of the most famous of the Orientalising period. In the framework of the Etruscanning project a VR application has been realized for permanent use in museums, based on new, low cost and mark-less natural interaction interfaces. The choice of natural interaction is not a purely technical solution for input. It strongly influences the perceptive impact of the real time exploration, the embodiment, the objects’ selection and manipulation metaphors, the combination of media, the narrative contents length and the user experience. The evaluation of the public feedback conducted in occasion of some exhibitions allowed us to verify the gesture grammar we were developing and to improve the interfaces step by step. What came out is that the current version makes extremely easy and natural the kind of interaction and this translates in a longer time of fruition, more pleasure and a better impact in terms of learning. Particularly in the paper we are going to describe the evaluation conducted in occasion of two editions of Archeovirtual (Paestum), held in 2011 and 2012, were we presented two different versions of the application. The finale one won the First Award in the Natural Interaction category and the First Public Appreciation Award in the 2012 edition.

Archaeological data are heterogeneous, making it difficult to correlate and combine different types. Datasheets and pictures, stratigraphic data and 3D models, time and space mixed together: these are only a few of the categories a researcher has to deal with. New technologies may be able to help in this process and trying to solve research related problems needs innovative solutions. In this paper, we describe the whole process for the design and development of a prototype application that uses an Immersive Virtual Reality system to access archaeological excavation 3D data through the Gesture Variation Follower (GVF) algorithm. This makes it possible to recognize which gesture is being performed and how it is performed. Archaeologists have participated actively in the design of the interface and the set of gestures used for triggering the different tasks. Interactive machine learning techniques have been used for the real time detection of the gestures. As a case study the agora of Segesta (Sicily, Italy) has been selected. Indeed, due to the complex architectural features and the still ongoing fieldwork activities, Segesta represents an ideal context where to test and develop a research approach integrating both traditional and more innovative tools and methods. Resumen: Los datos arqueológicos son heterogéneos y difíciles de correlacionar entre diferentes tipos. Las fichas técnicas y las imágenes, los datos estratigráficos y los modelos 3D, el tiempo y el espacio mezclados entre sí: son solamente algunas de las categorías que el investigador tiene que tratar. Las nuevas tecnologías pueden ser capaces de ayudar en este proceso, llenando el vacío entre la historia y el futuro, y tratar de resolver las necesidades de investigación con soluciones innovadoras. En este trabajo se describe todo el proceso que conlleva el diseño y desarrollo de un prototipo de aplicación, que utiliza un sistema de realidad virtual inmersiva para acceder a datos 3D de la excavación arqueólogica a través del algoritmo Gesture Variation Follower (GVF), que permite reconocer lo que el gesto está realizando y cómo se realiza. Los arqueólogos han participado activamente en el diseño de la interfaz y el conjunto de gestos utilizados para la activación de las diferentes tareas. Se han utilizado avanzadas técnicas de aprendizaje automático para la detección en tiempo real de los gestos. Como caso de estudio se eligió el ágora de Segesta (Sicilia, Italia). De hecho, debido a las características arquitectónicas complejas y las actividades de trabajo de campo todavía en curso, Segesta representa un contexto ideal donde poner a prueba y desarrollar un enfoque de investigación integrando ambas herramientas tradicionales y los más innovadores métodos. Palabras clave: ciber-arqueología, reconocimiento de gestos, realidad virtual (RV)

Multimedia Tools and Applications, 2008

The rapid evolution of computers' processing power, progress in projection and display technology, and their low cost, accompanied by recent advances in mathematical modeling, make available to space designers today sophisticated technologies which were once accessible only to research institutions or large companies. Thanks to wireless sensing techniques it is possible to endow a space with perceptual intelligence, and make it aware of how people use it, move in it, or react to it. Intelligent Spaces are relevant for several applications or tasks which range from surveillance to entertainment, from medical rehabilitation to artistic performance, from museum exhibit design to commerce. The author's work focuses on Narrative Spaces which are storytellers, able to articulate an informative or entertaining audiovisual narration for people interactively. Narrative Spaces communicate by use of large scale coordinated projections, sounds and displays whose contents are choreographed by the natural body movements or physical gestures of the people in them. This paper describes the guiding principles and modeling approaches that, according to the author, enable a robust modeling of user input and communication strategies for digital content presentation in Intelligent Narrative Spaces. It then provides examples of applications built according to the specified criteria.

In this paper we focuses on the virtual reconstruction of the Regolini Galassi tomb in Cerveteri, one of the most famous of the Orientalising period. In the framework of the Etruscanning project a VR application has been realized for permanent use in museums, based on new, low cost and mark-less natural interaction interfaces. The choice of natural interaction is not a purely technical solution for input. It strongly influences the perceptive impact of the real time exploration, the embodiment, the objects' selection and manipulation metaphors, the combination of media, the narrative contents length and the user experience. The evaluation of the public feedback conducted in occasion of some exhibitions allowed us to verify the gesture grammar we were developing and to improve the interfaces step by step.

EGA. Revista de expresión gráfica arquitectónica, 2016

Research for Development, 2014

VR Technologies in Cultural Heritage, 2018

Now that virtual reality has finally become a customer ready product, museums can use this new mean to enhance their exhibitions. The main problem however is that such a tool was not thought for casual users, and to adapt this new technology to short experiences such as the ones museums could provide, it is necessary to reduce the adaptation time to the new mean. In this paper, we discuss how removing physical controllers in favour of visually-tracked virtual hands could significantly reduce the time needed by casual users to adapt to new experiences, underlying the current technological limitations both in terms of technology and design.

Virtual Archaeology Review, 2012

A basic limit of most of VR applications created by the scientific community and reproducing cultural sites or artefacts is that they do not fire up the attention of public, in comparison with the great potentialities of VR system for cultural transmission: they are often lacking in emotional storytelling and difficult to manage. An important factor is the need of more natural and simple interfaces, especially for applications hosted inside museums. Starting from our experience in this domain, we propose new metaphors of narration and paradigm of interaction based on natural interfaces (body movements), presenting three study cases: "The Rule confirmation: virtual experience among Giotto's characters", "Etruscanning3D", "Virtual Exploration of the ancient Pharmacy of S. Maria della Scaletta Hospital at Imola".

2005