The Virtual Worlds in Culture and Education

M.B. Ignatiev, A.V. Nikitin, A. Nikitin, N.N. Reshetnikova
Address: Russia, 190000, St.Petersburg, Bolshaja Morskaja str., 67
Phone: (812)315-8940, 108-4014
E-mail: nikitin@spb.cityline.ru

The purpose of the report - to acquaint of the experts with works and experience of the authors in the field of creation of the virtual worlds (VW) and their use in culture and education.

Let's note some features and key moments of creation VW. The statement bases on materials of the report of the authors EVA-99 [1[/ and publications submitted on Web-page [2].

1. One of distinctive features of the virtual world (virtual reality) - naturalness of existence of the man in it. The world should give an opportunity to the man to look, to go, to co-operate etc. in it by a natural and habitual way without “unnatural” means such as the keyboard, mouse etc. For this purpose it is necessary to generate between the man and virtual world special connections adequate to the most natural way of dialogue of the man with the external world - at a level of its sensory -motor systems.

Because of complexity of realisation of the similar interface for a common case in practice the greatest distribution was received with means of support of interaction at a level of separate combinations of the characteristics of the man. Such interaction is reached by use special simulating habitual connection of the man with the environmental world of devices. Most means of support visual, sound and sensation of channels of perception - helmets, gloves, costumes etc. frequently are used.

Thus, the system of a computer VW should allow the man to co-operate with model environment in direct contact and to consist of the following basic subsystems:

The interface of the user - displays condition of environment; registers actions of the man and influences its modality;
Management - analyses the actions, executed by the man, and forms reactions to its actions; defines changes of condition of environment in time and space;
Modelling environment - forms realistic performance of environment and simulates its behaviour in real time on the basis models (physical etc.).
2. Let's consider the characteristics of two basic properties VW- Immersion and Interactivity [3-4].

The man for perception uses the following basic channels - visual, audio, kinaesthetic, taste, olfactory. However everyone man’s has one - two preferable of the channel. Partially to balance opportunities of perception of channels and to reveal preferable the automatic connection allows synaasthesia which is established between various channels of perception. Just on synaasthesia, in opinion of a line of the authors, all art is based.

The Immersion is characterised:

On a degree of immersing - is defined in width + depth of a flow (quantity of used simultaneously channels of perception + volume transmitted by the channel of perception of the information).
For a type – sensory + semantic (depends on technical features of communication environment + is connected to transmitted semantics).
The Interactivity is characterised:

Line of the factors, most important of which - speed of reaction of environment; a range of possible actions; display of restrictions;
By kind - static + dynamic (is defined by the initially incorporated interrelations of elements of environment such as hypermedia + assumes a choice of a position of perception (role) for static Interactivity).
Multi-user VW:

Are focused on the people with various by channels of perception, therefore used in them channels should be equally loaded with same semantics (duplication of the information on channels).
Do not support to the full sensory of immersing because of dearness of hardware, therefore to fill missing sensory inputs it is possible for the account synaasthesia (technology of semantic immersing).
The specialisation is based on role (dynamic) interactivity.

3. The virtual world can be submitted as functional - structural decomposition: the world - event - stage - situation - objects - attributes.

The basic part - multimodal a stage of co-operating objects. A nucleus multimodal of a stage - visual stage, which represents the information on mutual subordination and arrangement of objects of a stage, their properties and has hierarchical structure. As toolkit for input and structural description of a stage with the purpose of development of the interactive graphic appendices use IRIS Performer, Open Inventor, VRML, OpenGL Optimiser.

4. Network VW are realised in languages VRML, 3DML, 3D Java, Cult3d etc. The standard is VRML 97 (ISO/IEC 14772) [5], than and its choice for realisation of the author's projects is caused.

Examples of opportunities of language and its use [6-10]:

• Graphic user interfaces of new generation - The RealPlaces Guidelines (IBM), GDI + (Microsoft), The multimodal human-computer interaction.
  
• Virtual worlds with an opportunity of joint access - ActiveWorlds (Circle of Fire), Blaxxan (before Black Sun), Open Worlds (Open Community) (Mitsubishi Electric ITA) etc.
  
• Educational projects and standards – The U-Virtual University (Contact Consortium), VES- The Virtual European School, Nerve Garden (The Biota org).
  
• Technology CALS (Continuous Acquisition and Life-cycle Support), within the framework of which is realised preparation of the engineering specifications in the form 2/3D of interactive electronic technical manuals.
  
• Program of the European Union ACTS - system of the projects "European Telework Online", project Teleshoppe - to investigate, as use advanced multimedia and virtual reality can simulate " feeling and taste " of real process of purchase of the goods in conditions of telepresence in a trade hall.
  
• Electronic commerce - shops of a type 3DBOOM etc.
  
• Virtual museums, exhibition, libraries, objects of art and immovable cultural heritage, cities conducting of the programs etc. - numerous examples see [8-10].

5. Let's consider some author's projects in the given area. Common for them the following.

The basic characteristics of represented stages:

• The user interface
  - Level of Immersion - three-dimensional world with six degrees of freedom - through the screen of the standard monitor.
  - Kind of Interactivity - movement in the three-dimensional world with six degrees of freedom + interaction with objects - by means of the keyboard and mouse.
  
• Hyper- and multimedia, one and multi-user access at the local and distributed performance, delivery of a material to the user by means of CD ROM and/or Web.
  

Metaphor of construction of the virtual world - virtual exhibition. It consists of the interconnected expositions, each of which represents the certain theme and is constructed as a set interconnected multimedia interactive 3D of stages.

The user interface - corresponds to used telecommunication means for viewing VW (browser Internet Explorer 4.0 and above with the module for viewing VRML-files).

Platform - Wintel (Windows 95,98,2000, NT + Intel/Pentium) + Internet/Intranet.

Toolkit - languages HTML, Java and VRML, software of firms ParaGraph Int. (ISB, ISA, ICA, MUser), Microsoft (HTML Help WorkShop, FrontPage, VW, NetMeeting, VRML), Kinetix (3D StudioMax) etc.

5.1. Virtual faculty on a speciality 220100 " Computers, complexes, system and network "
[11, 12].

The purpose - development of virtual educational, scientific and industrial environment for maintenance all stages of life cycle of educational production / service and grantings to their user by means of CD ROM and Web in the form VW.

5.2. Automated educational rates (AER) of a type 3D Web/CD.

The purpose - performance educational content in the form hybrid VW and its delivery to the user by means of CD ROM and Web.

• AER “ Bases of systems of a virtual reality ” of a type 3D Web/CD [13].
  
• AER “ Bases of programming in language VRML ”.
  

5.3. Interface " the User - Virtual world ".

The purpose - development multimedia of the intellectual interface for maintenance adaptive (is defined preferable channels of perception etc.) and bilateral interaction (with the mixed initiative).

5.4. Intellectual control systems of mobile objects /14/.

The purpose - development VW with reference to management of complex mobile objects with the purpose of sharp increase of efficiency of activity of the crew.

5.5. A multimedia album " Sounds and images Kalmyk songs ".

The purpose - creation systematised code of Kalmyk lingering songs in the form of an multimedia album with the three-dimensional user interface (3D) and fragments VW.

5.6. A multimedia guidebook "of St. Petersburg Pushkin’s".

The purpose - creation of the electronic guidebook on Pushkin’s to places of St.-Petersburg containing multimedia the information, for wide use in a global network Internet.

5.7. Combinatorial modelling of music and its perception.

The purpose - development of interactive computer-graphic models of musical structures on the basis of the prevailing laws audio-visual synaasthesia.

Bibliography

1. M.Ignatiev, A.Nikitin, N.Reshetnikova. About the project "Virtual faculty " (concept of development and experience of realization). – In: Proceedings of the International conference EVA'99 " Electronic Imaging & the Visual Arts ", I., November 1999a., STG, VASARI.
   
2. Web-page “the Virtual worlds” (http://www.cl.spb.ru/nikitin/vr).
   
3. Steuer J. Defining Virtual Reality: Dimensions Determining Telepresence.- Journal of Communications, 42.4 (1992): pp. 73-93.
   
4. Marie-Laure Ryan. Immersion vs. Interactivity: Virtual Reality and Literary Theory. - Dept. of English, Postmodern Culture, v. 5 n. 1, Oxford University Press, 1994.
   
5. ISO/IEC 14772 -1/. The VRML-97 Specification. - The VRML Consortium Incorporated.
   
6. C.Youngblut. Educational Uses of Virtual Reality Technology.-Institute for Defense Analyses, Paper D-2128, Virginia, 1998.
   
7. John T. Bell, H. Scott Fogler. The Investigation and Application of Virtual Reality as an Educational Tool.- Proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education 1995. Annual Conference Session number 2513, June 1995, Anaheim, CA.
   
8. http://vrml.about.com/compute/vrml/
   
9. http://www.vrml.org/
   
10. http://www.hitl.washington.edu/kb/onthenet.html
    
11. M.Ignatiev, A.Nikitin, N.Reshetnikova, Y.Smirnov. The All-Russia virtual faculty on a speciality 220100 - Computers, complexes, system and network. - SPb - Moscow, SPbSUAI , 1999, 34n.
    
12. M.Ignatiev, I.Ignatieva, A.Nikitin, N.Reshetnikova. Architecture of Virtual Worlds. - In: Proceedings of the Advanced Simulation Technologies Conference, San Diego, USA, April 11-15, 1999.
    
13. CD-ROM. By a multimedia the directory " Bases of systems of a virtual reality " of a type 3D Web/CD. Under edition A.Nikitin, Centre of CIS. 1999.
    
14. M.Ignatiev, A.Nikitin. Aerospace objects intelligent control system: conceptions, tools, applications.- In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Smart Materials, Structures and Systems in conjunction with 9th National Seminar on Aerospace Structures Bangalore, India,July 7 - 10, 1999.

The report is prepared within the framework of the project #98-04-12029a “ Sounds and images Kalmyk songs ”, carried out on the grant RHSF.

Ignatiev Mikhail Borisovich - Head of Computer Systems and Networks Department, St-Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation, Doctor of Technical Science, Full Professor, Honorable Scientist of Russian Federation, Laureat of State Prize in Art, Literature and Architecture.

Nikitin Alexander Vasylievitch - Director of State Centre of Computer Interactive Simulation, Docent, Candidate of Technical Science.

Nikitin Alexander – Student of SPSETU.

Reshetnikova Nina Nikolaevna - Docent, Candidate of Technical Science.

St. Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation, Computer Systems and Networks Department. Education activity - preparing of bachelors, engineers and masters of computer science (Russian number of speciality - 22.01) and in direction of computer technology in arts and mass media. Science activity - virtual reality architecture, artonics - new science direction - for using of art principles in information technology .

State Centre of Computer Interactive Simulation under St-Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation. Science activity - simulation, computer animation and virtual reality, multimedia, Internet (2/3D Web).