Papers by Harold Thwaites (Retired)
Virtual Creativity
This research article presents part of a series of VR experiences that are focusing on persisting... more This research article presents part of a series of VR experiences that are focusing on persisting and globally recognized environmental issues. The main objective of this project is to visualize and address the situation through a different window compared to traditional awareness programmes. Although increased consciousness about environmental issues has been widely achieved through various forms of media, the sense of being confronted with the ‘situation’ may have not been created yet. This means that traditional awareness programmes can visualize the environmental impacts of unsustainable human activities but may not be able to fabricate scenarios in which individuals can face relevant consequences. Encountering undesired environmental impacts such as glacier meltdown, sea level rise, or landfill crisis, are not part of the daily routine of urban inhabitants living in artificially harnessed lands. This was the main notion for this research project. The initial idea was to create ...
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Cinema Canada, 1989
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2014 International Conference on Virtual Systems & Multimedia (VSMM), 2014
With the UAV technology becoming more affordable and user-friendlier, researcher can capitalize o... more With the UAV technology becoming more affordable and user-friendlier, researcher can capitalize on this advancement. Audiovisual data is a pertinent tool in data acquisition and UAV can add more value with proper context in the subject matter. This study aims to introduce the audiovisual data acquisition with UAV and demonstrate the user friendliness of operating the UAV as a beginner and not overwhelming the researcher. In future, researchers could increase the customization of the Phantom 2 UAV with other audiovisual data acquisition tool, to create more innovative data.
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2017 Pacific Neighborhood Consortium Annual Conference and Joint Meetings (PNC), 2017
In this article, preserving folklore stories in Malaysia via audio visual medium is discussed. As... more In this article, preserving folklore stories in Malaysia via audio visual medium is discussed. As part of the intangible heritage, this traditional knowledge faces the challenges in this digital internet-driven age. Case study implementation for the Mah Meri folklores and the Iban and Pua Kumbu is presented and analyzed.
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Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2012
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Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2012
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2013 International Conference on Technology, Informatics, Management, Engineering and Environment, 2013
ABSTRACT This paper describes the design and development of a location-based mobile tourism appli... more ABSTRACT This paper describes the design and development of a location-based mobile tourism application for cultural tourism in Malaysia by using a cloud-based platform. The architecture consists of three levels, front-end, middle-ware, and a back-end level that is built on Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud platform. The front-end level is a location-based mobile tourism application for Apple mobile devices, to explore nearby cultural tourism places. The middle-ware level provides a Web service to generate eXtensible Markup Language (XML) output from the relational database to exchange data between the mobile application and servers in the cloud. Finally, the back-end level that is built on AWS cloud platform provides services such as Apache Web server on Amazon Elastic Computing Cloud (EC2), MySQL database server on Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS), and a cloud storage that uses Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3), giving flexible, auto scalable, and secure servers to provide required services. The application is also caching images on the local storage and storing some data in SQLite database on the mobile device itself to provide some offline activities, and also decrease the number of sending requests to the servers, in order to save some data traffic.
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2017 13th International Conference on Signal-Image Technology & Internet-Based Systems (SITIS), 2017
This study provides a technical review of the current state of immersive virtual museum, heritage... more This study provides a technical review of the current state of immersive virtual museum, heritage, and tourism focusing on workflows and challenges involved in realistic asset creation. The workflow includes two parts i.e. virtualization of historic objects and creation of environment. However, in some instances the environment itself is a cultural heritage site e.g. an old castle that can be considered as historic object. Otherwise, the environment is just a conceptual virtual place (created using traditional 3D modeling methods) to mimic museum experience, embedding smaller historic objects, which are virtualized. Although tools and technologies such as photogrammetry, 3D scanning, or aerial 3D mapping have made the process of virtualization of historic/cultural objects considerably easier for basic users, challenges and limitations still remain as these automatic processes are not always accompanied by flawless outcomes. This study addresses some of those challenges and limitations faced during preparation of experimental immersive virtual museum for exhibition purposes. This covers various ranges of topics from lighting, texturing, and topology to limitations related to opacity, dark colors, and small details. This paper also provides a comprehensive overview of the technical details when it comes to preparation of virtual cultural heritage environments specifically for immersive experiences. Areas such as user interaction, navigation, space optimization, quality and viewing distance, access, purpose and objectives, degree of realism, etc. are covered in this review. The major processes illustrated in this study include photogrammetry, aerial 3D mapping, polygon modeling, 3D sculpting, 3D painting, UV Mapping, etc. The major software/tools used in this workflow include Agisoft Photoscan, Autodesk Remake, Pixologic ZBrush, xNormal, Autodesk 3ds Max, Unity, SteamVR, HTC Vive, including other relevant plugins and scripts. However, this study is not a step by step guide or a tutorial, but a reference for the currently available technologies to create immersive virtual museum, cultural heritage, and tourism aiming to distinguish the lines between different levels of processes involved. The objective is to provide a clear understanding of the challenges involved. Based on the literature review done prior to this study, a comprehensive academic reference (covering the mentioned areas) for digital heritage researchers is lacking (to date). The authors believe that due to the increasing availability and affordability of the current immersive virtual reality technologies for basic users this is a proper time for gathering major processes/challenges involved in creation of such environments and present them in form of a comprehensive reference. Although the main focus of this study is on digital heritage, the processes undertaken and explained can be generalized to be used by researchers in other fields where applicable.
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2017 23rd International Conference on Virtual System & Multimedia (VSMM), 2017
This paper presents a development of an aerial virtual reality 360 video capture approach. A dron... more This paper presents a development of an aerial virtual reality 360 video capture approach. A drone was converted and retrofitted with a 360 spherical panorama camera for acquiring source aerial visual content. In this case study, an experiment of a 360-fly-by video was reproduced for the intended use of an event launching where user perception was being observed in terms of practicality and suitability. Utilizing a consumer 360 camera the Samsung Gear 360 and the DJI Inspire 1, it allowed the researcher to capture aerial 360-degree video. The paper documented the process of retrofitting the 360-camera onto the drone. Research findings on why certain drones are suitable for the 360-degree camera will be presented. A user study was conducted to gauge the usability for comparing aerial VR360 being experienced on hand-held multimedia tablets and head-mount-devices (HMD). In this paper we describe the proposed configuration and workflow of aerial 360-video and identifying its potential c...
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This paper presents the development of an Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (AR) pillar,... more This paper presents the development of an Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (AR) pillar, a novel approach for showing AR and VR content in a public setting. A pillar in a public exhibition venue was converted to a four-sided AR and VR showcase, and a cultural heritage exhibit of “Boatbuilders of Pangkor” was shown. Multimedia tablets and mobile AR head-mountdisplays (HMDs) were provided for visitors to experience multisensory AR and VR content demonstrated on the pillar. The content included AR-based videos, maps, images and text, and VR experiences that allowed visitors to view reconstructed 3D subjects and remote locations in a 360 virtual environment. In this paper, we describe the prototype system, a user evaluation study and directions for future work. CCS Concepts •Multimedia Information System → Artificial, augmented, and virtual realities;
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2018 IEEE Games, Entertainment, Media Conference (GEM), 2018
A fairly large realistic Unity-Scene was developed to conduct an immersive storytelling and a use... more A fairly large realistic Unity-Scene was developed to conduct an immersive storytelling and a user study. The scene presents elements that at the first glance appear to be randomly positioned to populate the environment. For many users, this experiment was unprecedented in two ways i.e. for the first time exploring a virtual world fully immersive, and more importantly, being encountered with a series of uncanny events. The decision of ‘What Happened Here?’ was left to them. The experiment was recorded, documented, and analyzed. The findings including observed behavioral patterns, interaction, narration, lessons learnt, and technical aspects, as well as the future work are presented in this paper.
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2018 IEEE Games, Entertainment, Media Conference (GEM), 2018
This paper provides a case study of massive open online course (MOOC) for augmented reality (AR) ... more This paper provides a case study of massive open online course (MOOC) for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). The research studies the obstacles, challenges and usability issues entailed in the management of a novel MOOC for AR and VR training. The electronic learning form of MOOC has been adapted and made available for a number of universities and organizations. It brings learning opportunities for university students and industrial professionals to go through online-based courses on their own pace, and some MOOCs provide certifications for specialized subjects. However, the nature of working on AR and VR requires specialized equipment such as mobile tablets with high computing capability, workstation with fast graphic processing units (GPU) and head-mount-devices (HMD). This case study investigation outlines an overview of the potential obstacles and issues with the intention of how MOOC addresses best practices and the fundamental requirements of AR and VR training.
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In this project, we are interested in providing and customizing a distributable workflow of virtu... more In this project, we are interested in providing and customizing a distributable workflow of virtual reality 360 (VR360) suitable for compassion relief operation. Recruiting volunteers for disaster operation can face a number of obstacles and issues, these include physically and mentally challenges for volunteers. Disaster workers are usually volunteers from across the country and across the world. Most operations involves logistics in terms of financial support, transportation, emergency response vehicles and provide the victims and communities shelter, food, clothing, relief supplies and even comfort to those in need. In an ideal situation, we are looking at setting up a manageable workflow which can be operated by workers of compassion relief organization in terms of simplified method and apparatus for acquiring and generating 360 virtual content. The content should be operated and produced by multiple small teams of minimum-trained taskforces which have the capability to obtain a...
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2018 3rd Digital Heritage International Congress (DigitalHERITAGE) held jointly with 2018 24th International Conference on Virtual Systems & Multimedia (VSMM 2018), 2018
In this paper we present a conceptual Digital Heritage (DH) site in two different forms. The work... more In this paper we present a conceptual Digital Heritage (DH) site in two different forms. The work includes several Unity Scenes built into one package with interactions between a virtual museum and the conceptual DH site. The main objective here is to create a large and realistic user experience using the latest Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) technologies available to public. This enables us to study the future users’ behavioral patterns in such environments in the next step. The findings can be contributed to the field, mainly for the future technical development. However, the pilot user study undertaken step by step during the development process of this conceptual DH package is not included in this paper as we mainly look at the technical aspects and the overall concept at this stage. The major effort in this study is to employ the available IVR resources to create such environments as proof of concept in large scale. Although (affordable and available to public) IVR technologies have been significantly improved in the recent years, still there are many areas that need to be empowered. DH has long been one of the main targets in cultural studies. In this paper we examine the major interactions in IVR, applicable to DH, using a practical Human-Centered approach as a pilot test for the future behavioral patterns study related to this conceptual work. Therefore, as explained, this study does not represent a real case of DH or a historical review as the focus is mainly on the technical/design aspects, involving the currently available human interaction elements in IVR.
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2018 3rd Digital Heritage International Congress (DigitalHERITAGE) held jointly with 2018 24th International Conference on Virtual Systems & Multimedia (VSMM 2018), 2018
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Virtual Creativity, 2021
The Mah Meri is an indigenous tribe in Malaysia, specifically located in the central region of th... more The Mah Meri is an indigenous tribe in Malaysia, specifically located in the central region of the peninsular. As part of an ongoing research project to digitize their way of life, this article focuses on the aspects of documenting their wooden masks and statues that are carved by hand. They use these masks and statues in their animistic rituals, and each of these artefacts represents a folklore story in the Mah Meri culture and heritage. For a long time, these masks and statues have become a source of income for the Mah Meri carvers, as they get requests from collectors and enthusiasts. However, these days the craft not only faces the issue of dwindling number of carvers, but also the source of wood they use for carving the masks and statues. Thus, as part of the research in digitizing the masks and statues, we also collected the folklore stories of each artefact. Additionally, we used photogrammetry techniques to digitize the masks and statues formation process. The main idea is t...
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Papers by Harold Thwaites (Retired)
MARITIME HERITAGE DYNAMICS Conference
<Interdependences among maritime cities in a new silk road network> organized by the NTU Para Limes and School of Art, Design and Media in collaboration with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore Academy. Wednesday-Friday, 18-20 Nov. 2015 Venue Nanyang Technological University - School of Art, Design and Media ADM Auditorium, Level 2, 81 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637458
This presentation provides an overview of the research-creation process for a roundbreaking exhibition – Textile Tales of Pua Kumbu (TTPK) - to communicate the origins, cosmology and traditions of Pua Kumbu through polysensory and immersive digital media. It was designed to inform the public about this University funded 'High Impact Research' project that documents and virtually preserves the Iban ‘Pua Kumbu’ weaving traditions of Sarawak. TTPK presents transformative research in new and innovative ways through applied digital media technologies including animation, immersive projections, public interactives, storytelling, and a stunning display of cherished physical artefacts – the Pua Kumbu textiles. There is no written documentation of Iban cultural history, thus it is impossible to trace an accurate record of the origin and development of this textile tradition. History is best remembered through oral traditions passed down from generation to generation. This exhibition showcased for the first time, via various forms of digital capture and innovative media communication methods, the intangible culture and heritage of creating this exceptionally beautiful textile craft of East Malaysia
'ACT' points to the research that will be undertaken within three inter-related areas: 1) 'Agency in Ageing: Collaborative Creativity and the Digital Arts in Later Life' involves communities in the development of projects that have scholarly and creative outcomes to enhance agency. 2) 'Critical Mediations: Everyday Life and Cultures of Ageing' examines the variegated mediated cultural experiences of adults in later life. 3) 'Telecommunication Technologies: Ageing in Networked Societies' investigates ageing in the context of networked societies. It is primarily conducted through methodologies associated with the social sciences, and bridges internet and telecommunications research with ageing studies.
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Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Science & Technology, and the Centre for Research-Creation in Digital Media.