Efstratios Geronikolakis

Efstratios Geronikolakis, George Papagiannakis

Applications of the Extended Reality (XR) spectrum, a superset of Mixed, Augmented and Virtual Reality, are gaining prominence and can be employed in a variety of areas, such as virtual museums. Examples can be found in the areas of education, cultural heritage, health/treatment, entertainment, marketing, and more. The majority of computer graphics applications nowadays are used to operate only in one of the above realities. The lack of applications across the XR spectrum is a real shortcoming. There are many advantages resulting from this problem's solution. Firstly, releasing an application across the XR spectrum could contribute in discovering its most suitable reality. Moreover, an application could be more immersive within a particular reality, depending on its context. Furthermore, its availability increases to a broader range of users. For instance, if an application is released both in Virtual and Augmented Reality, it is accessible to users that may lack the possession of a VR headset, but not of a mobile AR device. The question that arises at this point, would be "Is it possible for a full s/w application stack to be converted across XR without sacrificing UI/UX in a semi-automatic way?". It may be quite difficult, depending on the architecture and application implementation. Most companies nowadays support only one reality, due to their lack of UI/UX software architecture or resources to support the complete XR spectrum. In this work, we present an "automatic reality transition" in the context of virtual museum applications. We propose a development framework, which will automatically allow this XR transition. This framework transforms any XR project into different realities such as Augmented or Virtual. It also reduces the development time while increasing the XR availability of 3D applications, encouraging developers to release applications across the XR spectrum.

George Papagiannakis, Paul Zikas, Nick Lydatakis et al.

In this work, we present MAGES 3.0, a novel Virtual Reality (VR)-based authoring SDK platform for accelerated surgical training and assessment. The MAGES Software Development Kit (SDK) allows code-free prototyping of any VR psychomotor simulation of medical operations by medical professionals, who urgently need a tool to solve the issue of outdated medical training. Our platform encapsulates the following novel algorithmic techniques: a) collaborative networking layer with Geometric Algebra (GA) interpolation engine b) supervised machine learning analytics module for real-time recommendations and user profiling c) GA deformable cutting and tearing algorithm d) on-the-go configurable soft body simulation for deformable surfaces.

Stéphanie Bertrand, Martha Vassiliadi, Paul Zikas et al.

This chapter will extend its preliminary scope by examining how literary transportation further amplifies presence and affects user response vis-á-vis virtual heritage by focusing on embodiment and aesthetic experience. To do so, it will draw on recent findings emerging from the fields of applied psychology, neuroaesthetics and cognitive literary studies; and consider a case study advancing the use of literary travel narratives in the design of DCH applications for Antiquities - in this case the well-known ancient Greek monument of Acropolis. Subsequently, the chapter will discuss how Literary-based MR Presence shifts public reception from an education-entertainment-touristic consumption paradigm to a response predicated on valuation. It will show that this type of public engagement is more closely aligned both with MR applications' default mode of usership, and with newly emerging conceptions of a user-centered museum (e.g., the Museum 3.0), thus providing a Virtual Museum model expressly suited to cultural heritage.

Efstratios Geronikolakis, Paul Zikas, Steve Kateros et al.

In this work, a new and innovative way of spatial computing that appeared recently in the bibliography called True Augmented Reality (AR), is employed in cultural heritage preservation. This innovation could be adapted by the Virtual Museums of the future to enhance the quality of experience. It emphasises, the fact that a visitor will not be able to tell, at a first glance, if the artefact that he/she is looking at is real or not and it is expected to draw the visitors' interest. True AR is not limited to artefacts but extends even to buildings or life-sized character simulations of statues. It provides the best visual quality possible so that the users will not be able to tell the real objects from the augmented ones. Such applications can be beneficial for future museums, as with True AR, 3D models of various exhibits, monuments, statues, characters and buildings can be reconstructed and presented to the visitors in a realistic and innovative way. We also propose our Virtual Reality Sample application, a True AR playground featuring basic components and tools for generating interactive Virtual Museum applications, alongside a 3D reconstructed character (the priest of Asinou church) facilitating the storyteller of the augmented experience.