Cultural Heritage: Point Cloud VR Visualization (2015)
credit: Ars Electronica
Taking the CAVE to the next level, the Deep Space 8K is the Ars Electronica Center’s unique virtual theater, consisting of two 16x9 meter projection screens (wall + floor) with 8K resolution each. As a highlight of the permanent exhibition, the Cultural Heritage program includes immersive, true-to-life tours though cultural sites from all over the world, 3D-scanned and processed for stereoscopic display and interactive fly-through. The render-engine is especially tailored for display of vast amounts of colored point cloud data at an interactive rate of 2x 60 Hz for a seamless and authentic experience. The program supported by organizations like CyArk, The Scottish Ten, and others, not only serves for entertainment and information, but also as an initiative for conservation to preserve endangered historical sites and make them available to future generations for education and research and also frequently serves as a platform for presentations of latest archeology research.
Context: interactive/realtime presentation as part of the permanent program of the Ars Electronica Centers’s program of Cultural Heritage, in Deep Space 8K
Contribution: research into realtime-proof point cloud rendering techniques, implementation of stereoscopic realtime-renderer for point data splatting, targeted for 2x (wall + floor) stereo 8K resolution, including frame-syncing between wall and floor, and camera-navigation for presenters via game controller and/or smart phone interface, implementation of toolset for pre-processing and editing of raw captured data for presentation in VR theater, processing and editing data sets
Credits: Ars Electronica Futurelab, Ars Electronica Center, CyArk, Scottish Ten, OÖ Landesmuseum, EF Tech, Universität Innsbruck, Naturhistorisches Museum Wien
credit: Ars Electronica
