What is data exploration and what is the state of the art for exploration and visualization of dataspaces in Virtual Reality in general, and for data related to cultural heritage archives in particular? This article aims to define the terminology, show the benefits of VR for this use and present selected examples of related work in this field.
The purpose of the intended VR application for exploration of dataspaces in the context of museological cultural heritage collection is to enable users to gain a better understanding and insight about the data at hand by offering novel ways of representation and interaction with the data by the means of Virtual Reality. Allowing the exploration of dataspaces by a non-guided discovery approach, the intended VR experience will be of informative, self-educative as well as entertaining character. This follows Viola Rühse’s recommendation that “online archives and digital collections that combine an educational and an entertaining approach seem to be more socially valuable” [1].
The goal of the project “Exploration of dataspaces in Virtual Reality in the context of museological cultural heritage collections” is to enable the user to gain a better understanding and insight of a given data set (such as it’s contents, size, dimension, etc.) and identify correlations, dependencies and patterns among the data entries. This is achieved by providing intuitive forms of interaction with the data and offering spatial visual representation. We aim to give more context to the data and develop suitable forms for visualisation that will give reference to the geographical and chronological aspects of the data points. In addition, the use of VR technology will enable higher immersion and open up new perspectives on the data on display for the viewer and as a result increase user engagement. For this reason strong emphasis is placed on user experience and usability.
After working for an extended time on the Biennale 4D project I’ve been assigned with a new challenge: “Exploration of dataspaces in Virtual Reality in the context of museological cultural heritage collections”. The aim of this new project is to devise strategies for filtering, search and exploration of objects as well as developing suitable interaction patterns and forms of visualisation with reference to the geographical, chronological and contextual aspect. The subsequent development of interactive prototypes for VR experiences based on the dataset of the online collection of Museum Rietberg will showcase the findings. Furthermore we will investigate how the use of VR technology can add value to visitors of cultural institutions, either during their on-site visit or while browsing through the content of their online presence.