Interactive Tools for the Visualization of Tangible and Intangible Silk Heritage Emerging from an Interdisciplinary Work

Silk is a unique example of heritage where memory, identity, creativity and knowledge can be found in just one piece. It is a multifaceted, living heritage, as it consists of more than the fabrics themselves, but also the techniques associated with them, historical buildings, trades, festivities, etc. Therefore, designers, weavers, painters, sellers and users are involved in it. However, it is also a fragile heritage, alive in the few industries that still weave with historical looms. Additionally, the COVID19 pandemic has put the entire artisanal and small industrial sector of European silk in risk of disappearing. In this, paper we show some results of the SILKNOW project, whose main obje…

Cross-Device Augmented Reality Annotations Method for Asynchronous Collaboration in Unprepared Environments

Augmented Reality (AR) annotations are a powerful way of communication when collaborators cannot be present at the same time in a given environment. However, this situation presents several challenges, for example: how to record the AR annotations for later consumption, how to align virtual and real world in unprepared environments or how to offer the annotations to users with different AR devices. In this paper we present a cross-device AR annotation method that allows users to create and display annotations asynchronously in environments without the need for prior preparation (AR markers, point cloud capture, etc.). This is achieved through an easy user-assisted calibration process and a …

A taxonomy of augmented reality annotations

From Historical Silk Fabrics to Their Interactive Virtual Representation and 3D Printing

The documentation, dissemination, and enhancement of Cultural Heritage is of great relevance. To that end, technological tools and interactive solutions (e.g., 3D models) have become increasingly popular. Historical silk fabrics are nearly flat objects, very fragile and with complex internal geometries, related to different weaving techniques and types of yarns. These characteristics make it difficult to properly document them, at the yarn level, with current technologies. In this paper, we bring a new methodology to virtually represent such heritage and produce 3D printouts, also making it highly interactive through the tool Virtual Loom. Our work involves sustainability from different per…

Virtual and Augmented Reality for the Visualization of Summarized Information in Smart Cities

In this chapter, authors deal with the problem of visualizing summarized information in a complex system like a smart city. They introduce the topic of smart city in the context of the information revolution that is taking place in the world. Next, they review how this information can be visualized, highlighting immersive 3D methods such as Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR), which are particularly suitable for these applications, since 2D information does not usually induce a focused and sustained attention. The chapter describes and shows a use case in which VR and Spatial AR (SAR) are used in a smart city system to visualize summarized information about the state and managem…