An Interactive Virtual Fine Art Gallery Created Using 360-Degree Panoramic Photography

Robert ByrneOpen Learning Division, Thompson Rivers University, Canada

Terryl AtkinsFine Arts Department, Thompson Rivers University, Canada

Jon FultonOpen Learning Division, Thompson Rivers University, Canada

This paper explores the advantages of an interactive panoramic virtual gallery as an archive for the artworks of graduating cohorts from a Bachelor of Fine Arts Program, but with future possibilities for using these galleries as hubs for further development by alumni of the program and interactive pedagogical online sites for enhanced student learning in other areas of the program, as well as the possibilities for online community involvement at both thematic and practical levels.

Introduction

We now have the first cohort of students raised on the Internet: they have been immersed in technology that is fast, multifunctional and information saturated, expecting to participate in inventive yet commonly recognized ways. As media creators they produce blogs and Web pages, post and comment on original artwork, photography, stories, or videos online as well as remix online content into their own creations (Jenkins et al, 2009). Given that 57 percent of teens who use the Internet today have done at least two out of the above list, one third of them sharing what they have created with others online, and that 22 percent have their own websites, it would be a mistake to imagine that we are in anything but a participatory culture, and education at all levels, even informal education for all age levels, needs to take this into account (Jenkins et al., 2009). A multi-user, cooperative-learning virtual environment where users interact and collaborate to manipulate aspects of that environment fits nicely with a participatory model of learning.

Over the course of the past three years we have developed a virtual fine art gallery environment that gives the person exploring it online the feeling of being present in the space through limited movement through the space, the ability to pan around the space, the ability to hop from one viewing position to another within the space and to view the artworks close-up. Our strategy is to examine and evaluate what works well within this immersive environment and to develop the intuitive, tacit and experiential possibilities much further than exists at present–to enhance both the social and environmental presence of the space and its function as a hub for related virtual pedagogical strategies and other online community involvement. We believe that possibilities for learning presented by the panoramic virtual gallery and future enhancement of its interactivity and capability to link to real time ongoing events and developments reflects a necessary pedagogical direction for the 21st century.

Description of the Project

As part of their graduation requirements, students of the Bachelor of Fine Arts Program at Thompson Rivers University participate in a graduating student exhibition by presenting an independent body of their artworks, which is displayed to the public in late April for two weeks. The virtual gallery project arose from a conversation between media professionals from the Open Learning Division, who were involved in other panoramic photography projects, and faculty of the Fine Arts Department interested in creating an accurate archive of the students’ graduating exhibition and work.

Students were involved early on in the development of the project. They were asked to think about what they wanted their own spaces in the virtual gallery to contain, and were encouraged to submit any photos or other digital media they wanted to have included. The media professionals and faculty collaborated on the design of the virtual gallery by defining what the user experience would be.

Over a two-day period, the media professionals planned and photographed the physical gallery of the students’ graduating exhibition. The gallery was contained in six different studios in the Fine Arts Department, so care was taken to determine which spots provided the best vantage point from which to photograph. Photographs were taken from the designated positions using digital camera equipment, and were later stitched together, creating the visual “frame” for the environment. The virtual gallery was enhanced with navigation features (buttons to allow the user to pan, tilt, and zoom within the gallery, and a map to jump from one space to another). Interactive features allowed the user to view additional media, such as written

biographies, artist statements, and curriculum vitae as well as time-lapse videos on artistic process or discussions of conceptual concerns in the artworks, provided by the students. The original gallery can be viewed in a web browser by going to https://barabus.tru.ca/vgallery (Figure 1).

Figure 1. A screenshot of the virtual gallery project as viewed in Mozilla Firefox.

The project has continued in subsequent years as a way to document and archive the work of graduating Fine Arts students. Recently, however, this project is beginning to be envisioned as a potential virtual learning environment to enrich student learning in other courses in the Fine Arts Program–directly, in the area of curatorial, exhibition design studies and gallery installation, but, also, less directly in relation to professional development, documentation of artwork and artistic process, eportfolio design, epresence as a professional artist, and networking strategies. In addition, the Fine Arts Department sees this virtual environment as having the potential to become a living site, open to use and growth, allowing visitors to participate in discussions engendered by the virtual representation of the artworks and the ongoing activities of alumni of the program to augmentation of the site.

The Production Process

Step 1. Capturing the images

The process for acquiring the photographic media is complex, and since the physical gallery is available for a short period of time (approximately two weeks), mistakes are impossible to fix. It was also important in this project that the process of photographing the students’ artworks did not interfere with the organization of the exhibition itself. Therefore, the value of planning in a project such as this can’t be overstated. After the gallery exhibits were complete and ready for viewing, the media professionals planned the spots from which they would capture the series of panoramic images.

To create high quality panoramas, it is important in the photographic process to use quality equipment and keep camera shake to a minimum. We used a Canon 5D Mark II digital camera (with a full-frame sensor) equipped with a 35 mm Canon lens to provide the sharpest imagery possible, and a special panoramic head attached to a high quality tripod to ensure smooth tracking (Figure 3). Photographs were taken in high dynamic range mode so that differences in exposure between photos were minimized.

HDR or High Dynamic Range photography is done by taking three or more consecutive images from the exact same location with different exposure settings.  We take one photograph with correct base exposure, one exposure with deep shadows exposed correctly (to see details in the shadows), and one exposure with the highlight exposed correctly (to see details in the bright highlight areas).  These are then merged in Adobe Photoshop to stretch the dynamic range of the exposure allowing us to see details in both the extremely bright and extremely dark areas.

Figure 3. Photographic equipment used to capture images for creating the panoramas. Left: Canon EOS 5D Mark II; centre: Panosaurus panoramic head; right: Manfrotto tripod.

Using the features of the panoramic head, a series of photos was taken around a 360-degree horizontal arc with about 30 degrees between photos. If necessary, two passes were made, one with the camera aimed about 20 degrees above the horizon and a second with the camera pointed about 20 degrees below the horizon (note: the specifics for each site could vary depending on the size of the room and the camera lens used). Each pair of adjacent photos had approximately 15 to 20 percent of overlap to facilitate stitching into a large panoramic image. This process was repeated for each photographic site in the plan.

A special panoramic tripod head such as the Panosaurus is required so that the camera rotates around the optical center of the lens (called the entrance pupil or nodal point) instead of the film or sensor plane. We do this to avoid parallax distortion which enables the images to be stitched together seamlessly. By setting up the panoramic tripod head correctly to the lens you are using will eliminate these faults.

Step 2: Stitching the images

The set of images for each photographic site was joined together using a software program called AutoDesk Stitcher Unlimited. The “stitched” image created by the stitching process was then exported as six cube faces (Figure 4).

Figure 4. The stitching process transforms a series of overlapping images (left) into six cube faces (right).

Step 3: Creating the virtual environment

The final step in the process involves creating an environment that can be viewed in a Web browser, and that provides a way for users to navigate and interact with objects within the gallery. The software we used to do this, Kolor PanoTour Pro, has the advantage of producing virtual tours in either Flash or HTML5 format, so that the panoramas can be viewed on mobile devices.

Basic navigation features allow users to pan in all directions and to zoom in and out. These functions are supported by the mouse and scroll wheel on most desktop systems and by usual touch gestures on touch screens, or by using the buttons on the interface.

Because the virtual gallery incorporates multiple rooms and multiple panoramas within most rooms, we used a drop-down map for navigation. Users also have the ability to navigate to any of the artists’ works by using the “Choose an Artist” drop-down (Figure 5).

Hotspots within each panorama allow users to access the additional media provided by the artists, including photographs of their work, artists’ statements, and other visual media (Figure 6).

In the future, other elements will be added to create a more interactive environment. These may include video, links to social media, objects that can be manipulated within the environment, and environmental variables such as sound and lighting.

Figure 5. Navigating through the virtual gallery by floor plan (left) and by artist (right).

Figure 6. Interactive elements within the virtual gallery.

Theoretical Basis for 360-degree Panoramas in Education

The use of immersive virtual environments for learning is well supported by recent research. Using data from the 2008 administration of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), Chen et al. (2010) concluded that a positive relationship exists between Web-based learning technologies, such as virtual learning environments, and student engagement leading to desirable learning outcomes. George Kuh (2009), founder of the (NSSE) defines student engagement as “the term usually used to represent constructs such as quality of effort and involvement in productive learning activities.”

Creating communities of learners is a goal for the future development of this project. We envision the virtual gallery as a launchpad for discussion and exploration, providing opportunities for students to learn collaboratively by connecting to

others through embedded social media applications. Pike, Kuh, and McCormick (2011) found that having students involved in learning communities is positively related to many types of student engagement, especially active and collaborative learning and student-faculty interaction. A case study at the University of Calgary (Vaughan, 2010) describes how Web 2.0 technologies such as social bookmarking, blogs, wikis, and social networking, when incorporated into learning design, have a positive influence on student-student engagement, student satisfaction, student success, and student retention.

Although the learning environment created in this project is virtual, it nonetheless will provide a very authentic learning experience because of the high quality imagery and interactivity incorporated within. ‘Authentic learning’ happens in a context where the learner can make contextual mistakes without real life consequences, yet be supported in understanding and adopting advantageous behaviours under realistic conditions (Brookes & Moseley, 2012). Authentic learning in an interactive virtual environment bypasses real world costs, dangers, and/or administrative hurdles, yet “requires students to employ similar cognitive processes and behaviours as they would in the real-world context.” (Reiners, 2014) The “mediated sense of presence” (a technology-induced illusion of being present in a simulated place as typically experienced in virtual worlds) requires a convincing feeling of immersion in the environment plus a meaningful narrative (Gorini, 2010).

Most people do not know the ‘what's’ and ‘why's’ of the various situations they visually participate in but are nevertheless immersed in the 'know-how' of viewing and understanding image-based productions on a profound level. Since it is very difficult to address tacit knowledge through explanation and description (Polanyi, 1974) the visual modeling of illustrative situations offered by an immersive virtual environment can be a much more effective tool for learning. Reinforced by neuroscience, the same clusters of neurons in the brain fire whether one is watching another do an activity or doing that same activity. (Ramachrandran, 2004, pp. 80-81) Chimpanzees are now able to remotely move a robotic arm just through imagining the process. (Baum, 2008) Athletes and actors have used visualization, with autogenic or biofeedback training to improve performance, and this may be a more direct, immediate and intuitive method of learning the very intricate and subtle dynamics of human interaction within a complex context. Other than on an embodied phenomenological level, actually moving through and manipulating a space may have become a moot point as the technology becomes more transparent and intuitive to the user.

Engagement in an immersive inviting environment becomes the scaffolding to direct the pedagogical experience. In this way the evolution of the site and its off-shoots will not be left solely up to those who choose to participate but can be guided by principles found in the aesthetic experience itself. In The Art of Seeing: An Interpretation of the Aesthetic Encounter, creativity researcher Csikszentmihalyi (1990) compares the aesthetic experience of art with other mental states that require complete mental immersion. In these states people experience a loss of self-consciousness, a loss of ego boundaries to a point of fusion with the world or the environment. In this regard the aesthetic experience "provides visceral, holistic, and rewarding sensations that are ordinarily absent from purely cognitive activities"(p.12). Several factors help to define the aesthetic experience: concentration of attention; an openness to the process of discovery; an expression of human presence in what is experienced (p. 122,128,148). There must be enough provocation in the initial encounter so that new understandings, insights and epiphanies are derived over time from that experience (p.149). The initial concentration or focusing of attention only becomes possible when challenges are balanced out by the skills of the viewer. Therefore, the feeling of a level of active control and understanding of the limits of the challenges within the environment is necessary. If aesthetic engagement is the antidote to the anesthetic (sleep-inducing) pedagogy that we inherited from the enlightenment coupled with the industrial revolution model of assembly-line production, a model that continues to plague us in our school system today as British educational critic Sir Ken Robinson (2001) asserts, and universities seem to be the last bastions of mind-numbing and out-of-date logocentrism, as stressed by visual literacy researcher James Elkins (, then it behooves us as educators in the 21st century to emphasize the aesthetic encounter and the feeling of embedded presence, in its various permutations, in alternative worlds to be present to and with our students.

Future directions

Dede (2009) describes immersive digital environments as being able to “foster educational experiences that draw on a powerful pedagogy: situated learning. …by enabling digital simulations of authentic problem-solving.” Situated learning relies on the perception of presence on the part of the user, to feel embedded in a world where the person is an active human agent, not simply subjected to the demands of the environment or of unknown others. Heeter (1992) describes three dimensions of presence users experience in virtual environments: personal presence achieved “by simulating as closely as possible the range and intensity of stimuli human senses detect and interpret in perceiving the natural world”; the social presence of other people are in the virtual world reinforcing that world’s existence; and environmental presence, which is the capacity to modify the environment through actions. In this project, we have created a virtual environment with the first dimension of presence, a realistic traversable environment situated in a visually defined series of spaces. In the future we envision enhancing this environment to include multi-user interactivity and the ability for the users to learn from aspects of

the environment to include more social and environmental presence through links to dramatized information on exhibition lighting and design (for example), and by participating in more complex tasks such as sketch-ups for virtual exhibitions as practice in exhibition design, possibly including some of the more practical installation based aspects of measuring, hanging or otherwise installing artworks to National Gallery standards.

A “guestbook” could allow visitors to the gallery space to comment on what they see, generally or specifically, depending on the learning objective. Conversations on particular topics could provide links to other pertinent information online thus enhancing the organic nature of the site. The possibilities of this virtual exhibition hub becoming a multi-presence, multi-participant collaborative virtual reality learning environment (VRLE) are hard to predict because this approach stimulates users in ways that motivate them to develop their own learning outcomes together, acquire skills and ‘know-how’ through personal experience in action, behavior that fosters tacit learning and emergent outcomes that gain a life of their own.

References

Baum, M (2008, June 9). Science and technology: Monkey uses brain power to feed itself with robotic arm. Pit Chronicle. Retrieved from http://www.chronicle.pitt.edu/?p=1478.Brookes, S. & Moseley, A. (2012). Authentic contextual games for learning. In N. Whitton & A. Moseley (Eds.), Using games to enhance learning and teaching: A beginner's guide (pp. 91-107). New York: Routledge.Chen, P. D., Lambert, A. D., & Guidry, K. R. (2010). Engaging online learners: The impact of web-based learning technology on college student engagement. Computers & Education, 54(4), 1222-1232. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2009.11.008Csikszentmihalyi, M. & Robinson, R. E. (1990). The art of seeing: An interpretation of the aesthetic encounter. Los Angeles, CA: Getty Publications.Dede, C. (2009). Immersive interfaces for engagement and learning. Science, 323(5910), 66-69. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.tru.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=psyh&AN=2009-01323-001&site=eds-liveElkins, J. (Ed.). (2008). Visual literacy. New York, NY: Routledge.Gorini, A., Capideville, C., De Leo, G., Mantovani, F., & Riva, G. (2011). The Role of Immersion and Narrative in Mediated Presence: The Virtual Hospital Experience. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, Volume 14, Number 3, 2011. DOI: 10.1089/cyber.2010.0100Heeter, C. (1992). Being There: The subjective experience of presence. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, MIT Press, fall, 1992.Jenkins, H. Purushotma, R., Weigel, M. Clinton, K. & Robison, A. (2009). Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21st century. Cambridge/London: MIT Press. Kuh, G. D. (2009). The national survey of student engagement: Conceptual and empirical foundations. New Directions for Institutional Research, 2009(141), 5-20. doi:10.1002/ir.283Metamorphosis, Titian 2012, The National Gallery London. URL: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/metamorphosis-titian-2012. Retrieved Dec. 10, 2014

Pike, G., Kuh, G. and McCormick, A. (2011). An investigation of the contingent relationships between learning community participation and student engagement. Research in Higher Education. 52(3), 300-322.Reiners, T. Wood, L., Gregory, S., Gibson, D., Petter, N. & Ter äs, M. (2014). Authentic, immersive, and emotional experience in virtual learning environments: The fear of dying as an important learning experience in a simulation. TL Forum (2014). Transformative, innovative and engaging. Proceedings of the 23rd Annual Teaching Learning Forum, 30-31 January 2014. Perth: The University of Western Australia. http://ctl.curtin.edu.au/events/conferences/tlf/tlf2014/contents-all.html

Robinson, K. (2001). Out of our minds: Learning to be creative. Chichester, UK: Capstone Publishing Limited.

Vaughan, N. (2010). Student engagement and Web 2.0. Education Canada. 50(2), 52-55.