Bharat Dave, Australia | ISBN: | Submitted: Jun 25, 1998

BITs of Heritage

The paper describes a project that incorporates virtual and interactive representations of the UNESCO world heritage sites in India. The multimedia project features 3D spatial representations, multiple exploration and navigation modes, and the use of distributed information resources on the Internet. The project, that is still evolving, integrates a wide array of information and protocols: text, 3D models, still images and video, sound, etc., that are brought together using VRML, HTML, and other multimedia authoring and delivery technologies. The evolving information system is designed to be accessible and to evolve in future on the Internet. The attached illustration provides a glimpse of the richness and complexity of information that is being harnessed in the project.

The paper presents the design and implementation details of this project. While the visible outcome of the project is a virtual repository of information about the world heritage sites in India, the project is also guided by other objectives. The project offers an experimental context to develop spatial representation and navigation metaphors. It also offers the opportunity to explore distributed multimedia systems. The paper discusses these issues in light of our experiences. Finally, the paper also outlines other possibilities for using virtual systems and multimedia for preserving the past and the present for the future, one of the aims pursued by the UNESCO.

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[keywords]
Virtual worlds, heritage sites, India, interactive multimedia, distributed systems, metaphors