Getting Started in the Digital Humanities: Digital Mapping and Augmented Reality

Victoria SzaboDuke Universityves4@duke.edu

http://www.dukewired.orghttp://isis.duke.edu

http://dhcommons.org/mla2014MLA 2014 ::10 January 2014, Chicago

Friday, January 10, 14

Spatial Humanities Teaching/Research Projects - Approaches

! Public humanities interventions

! Bringing social and cultural history to life

! Complex dialog of physical and virtual elements

! Can be used in combination with linear storytelling through text, film, or a combination of these

! Use of mobile technologies for access and feedback

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Core Information Architecture and Media Design Concepts, Digitized

! Annotation

! Palimpsests and layers

! Database-driven substrate

! Non-linear narrative form

! Quantitative and qualitative forms entwined

! Collaborative, iterative project developmentAnalog antecedents ^

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Example: 1968 Protests in Venice Student Project

http://youtu.be/mZp02HGkHas

! Digital mapping project, expanded into various forms

! Export as video and add on additional elements

! Integrate “street view” style image overlays of real locations

! Concept of a database substrate manifested in di"erent research products

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Google Earth “Source” Material for Video

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Hands-on Authoring with Google Earth

1.Open up Google Earth

2.Create a project folder “test” and select it

3.Search on an address or enter GPS points for an annotation

4.Create a point using the thumbtack icon and label your point

5.Type textual content into the box that pops up

6.Link an image (search for one on the web)

7.Repeat for other points

8.Save the file by right clicking the folder and selecting Save As...

9.Run a “tour” through your project by clicking the play button

10.Export a video using MovieMaker

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Augmented Reality

! Marker-based

! Location-based

! Experiential

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Marker-Based Example: AR2View Installation

1. QR Code for access (need Scan software for mobile device)

2. Catalog of custom imagery used to create the reference images

3. Junaio app to read the codes and serve supplementary material

4. See the resulting 3D objects loaded onto the tablet/smartphone screen

http://institute.emerson.edu/vma/faculty/john_craig_freeman/AR_to_View/AR_to_View.pdf

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Location-Based AR

! Mapping Substrate combined with annotation idea

! Hybrid reality - the presence of the past

! Space as a social construct within which Places are defined

! Collaboration with community organizations

! Opportunity for greater depth

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“Digital Durham” 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 Projects Over the Years: Evolution from Mapping to Augmented Reality

2. Digital Mapping Projects (begun 2010)1. Online Archive (est. 2001)

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3. Augmented Reality Undergrad Projects - Contextualized Historical Annotation of a Map-Based System (2012-)

deep histories (points) and thematic trajectories

( paths)

http://isis.duke.eduFriday, January 10, 14

Teaching/Research Connections: Duke Wired Lab for Visualizing the Past and Visualizing Venice

http://dukewired.org http://visualizingvenice.org

Text

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DEMO: Venetian Ghetto in Chicago at

1. Open Junaio app on smartphone

2. Search for BuildAR

3. Log in as user (not needed when published) - search on Virtual Ghetto for this demo

4. See the local points available onscreen by rotating around the space

5. Interact with annotations actions on the screen - link to websites, listen to audio/video, make calls, send tweets etc. as programmed

41.892277° N-87.624655° W

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Grad Student Video on “Virtual Ghetto” AR Project Building:

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Wider Context of Projects

http://omeka.visualizingvenice.org/exhibits/show/visualizing-the-venetian-ghettFriday, January 10, 14

Augmented Reality Project Development

! Server to host your content: Hoppala, Poiz, BuildAR, or host your own... (pay to store content)

! Distribution platform for mobile devices: Layar, Junaio or others (pay to publish a “layer” or “channel”)

! Downloadable apps for viewing (Layar browser, Junaio browser, etc.)

! Devices with live data/GPS to view the content

You need:

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Easy Start: Doing AR with BuildAR

1.Create an account (5 points test for free)2.Create an augment: image-based or

location based3.Create a projection:

a.titleb.text descriptionc.marker imaged.reference imagee.projection image or 3D modelf. actions (website, audio, video, text,

etc.)4.Test on individual devices for functionality

using Junaio and BuildAR channel5.Publish (costs $); perhaps roll up as app

(costs more $) http://buildar.comFriday, January 10, 14

Challenges/Next Steps! GPS accessibility for location-based annotations sketchy, but if you use

markers, where to put them?

! Recognition of images for marker-based AR still limited

! “Weight” of augmented content loading via wireless or data plans is constraining time-wise and financially

! Battery life of devices with an always-on application

! Airspace “ownership” and copyright questions.

! Meta issues about “virtual gra"ti,” digital divide etc.

! Sustainability

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Finally - Experiential AR: Google Glass

http://www.fieldtripper.com/glass/

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DEMO: Google Glass and Hangout

! Try out taking pictures and videos

! Critical questions of surveillance, gaze, identity naturally arise - these are terrific MLA discipline issues to discuss

! Record video; subsequently edit into other productions...

! multimodal, layered narrative production

FIRST PERSON NAVIGATION SHARING (in progress idea)

1.Sign in to Google Glass

2.Initiate a Hangout with Google Plus collaborators

3.Invite people to watch as you navigate - realtime presence “on location”; shared experiences

4.Have a collaborator record the session and edit...

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DEMO Video: Google Glass Video Quality

https://vimeo.com/81349407Friday, January 10, 14

Scaling Up - Intensive Graduate Student Training:

2014 Workshop Link: http://www.univiu.org/shss/seminars-summer-schools/visualizing-venice-summer-workshop

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...and a new MA in Historical and Cultural Visualization

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(My) Next Steps for Digital Durham and Visualizing Venice Projects! Convert to a mobile application using tools like Map2App (for simple

mapping) and Metaio Creator for AR and apps

! Develop more robust database substrate for content in a real (but light) database, not just Google docs etc.

! Text transcripts of relevant documents, searchability, visualization approaches etc.

! Virtual world and game-based instantiations of 2D and 3D content in OpenSim and Unity for wider range of applications on mobile, computer, and in immersive virtual reality cave

! Integration of our GIS-based content into a heavier mapping interface (probably with ArcOnline and CityEngine

! Further writeup and explication of the theories and practices embedded within these projects for curriculum development and academic research initiatives

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Questions, Comments?

Feel free to contact me at ves4@duke.edu

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