Objectives
The project shall act as a melting pot for mixing
novel technology, that allows real-time visualisation for a moving observer
of recorded REAL PLACES, with ideas of researchers from diverse fields to
develop new tools for empirical and theoretical studies of presence based
on the concept of the observer's embodiment in the computationally created
virtual environment. As real places (possibly known to the observer) with
man-made and/or organic objects (like trees, foliage etc.) are otherwise
hard to represent in a virtual environment, the aim is to bring about new
insight into presence, when also comparison to real presence is possible.
Description of work
Tools for Presence: The project will develop and explore
new recording and visualisation technologies enabling people to experience
presence at REAL and possibly known places - without actually having to GO
to those places. The experience will be based on true-to-life visual and
auditorial sensory information presented in real-time. The technology will
be designed to support the observer's active exploration of the visual and
auditory space, thus adding an intuitive physical dimension to the experience.
This physical dimension is paramount to achieving "embodiment", i.e. the
observer's sensation of being bodily grounded in an environment. The new
technology of Image Based Rendering does not require a reconstructed geometrical
model of the scene. It bypasses an important technological problem and presents
a break-through, but large amount of image data needs to be stored, and recalled
for real-time visualisation. Through augmentation, visually and auditorily,
a sense of life can be added including objects for interaction. Projection
technologies will range from HMD to large screens incl. 6-sided CAVE.
Presence Research: The empirical research will exploit the possibilities to
investigate the experience of "being there" when we refer to REAL places and
possibly a place which the observer knows from previous real presence. The
theoretical framework will be based on the concept of embodiment in conjunction
with presence and investigate how it arises from e.g. fidelity of experience
and presentation, domain specific elements, the sense of place, and physiological
and neurological aspects like consistency of sensory-motor co-ordination.
The framework will be developed in close interaction with, and as a guide
for, technical development by focusing on the particular aspects that the
technology offers as well as on its weak points. Feed-back from empirical
studies will form an essential part of the project.
Milestones and expected results
The research iterates through 11 demonstrators to
develop the possibility of virtual environments presenting real places and
places known to the observers. This is technologically hard or impossible
with current techniques, and the project opens and explores new avenues of
Presence Research - technologically and empirically - regarding the experience
of "being there". Results will contribute new insight into important aspects
of presence, that otherwise would not be available for investigation.
