{"id":1465,"date":"2019-06-06T10:00:24","date_gmt":"2019-06-06T09:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs-new.it.ox.ac.uk\/innovation-challenges\/?p=1465"},"modified":"2019-07-10T11:57:17","modified_gmt":"2019-07-10T10:57:17","slug":"meet-new-project-show-and-tell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs-new.it.ox.ac.uk\/innovation-challenges\/meet-new-project-show-and-tell\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the new project: Physical and Virtual Show and Tell"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_1476\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs-new.it.ox.ac.uk\/innovation-challenges\/files\/2019\/05\/Physical-and-Virtual-Show-and-Tell.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1476\" class=\"wp-image-1476 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs-new.it.ox.ac.uk\/innovation-challenges\/files\/2019\/05\/Physical-and-Virtual-Show-and-Tell-300x180.jpg\" alt=\"Digital and physical 3D models of a museum object from the Pitt Rivers Museum that visitors will be able to explore at a kiosk inside the gallery\" width=\"300\" height=\"180\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs-new.it.ox.ac.uk\/innovation-challenges\/files\/2019\/05\/Physical-and-Virtual-Show-and-Tell-300x180.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs-new.it.ox.ac.uk\/innovation-challenges\/files\/2019\/05\/Physical-and-Virtual-Show-and-Tell-768x461.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs-new.it.ox.ac.uk\/innovation-challenges\/files\/2019\/05\/Physical-and-Virtual-Show-and-Tell.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1476\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Digital and physical 3D models of a museum object from the Pitt Rivers Museum that visitors will be able to explore at a kiosk inside the gallery<\/p><\/div>\n<p>In this interview,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/oumnh.web.ox.ac.uk\/people\/georgina-brooke\">Georgina Brooke<\/a>\u00a0talks about the <em>Physical and Virtual Show and Tell<\/em> project, which will bring Virtual Reality to the Museum of Natural History.<\/p>\n<p>This project is\u00a0one of four <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs-new.it.ox.ac.uk\/innovation-challenges\/glam-labs-funding-4-projects\/\">GLAM Labs projects<\/a> funded\u00a0as part of this year\u2019s IT Innovation Challenges round.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h3>About the project<\/h3>\n<p>Technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and 3D printing allow natural history material to be investigated and presented in new ways. We want to explore and evaluate how these technologies might work for visitors in the context of learning and visitor experience in the Museum.<\/p>\n<p>In this GLAM Labs project we will create an \u2018experience station\u2019 in the Museum to provide visitors with access to VR models of specimens that they can manipulate using their \u2018virtual hands\u2019, supported by digital annotations and interpretation. A touchscreen built in to the kiosk will also allow access to other digital content created by the Museum that is not currently available to in-gallery visitors. This station will be designed so that it can be used as \u2018self-service\u2019, but it will also serve as a base from which regular Spotlight Specimen \u2018show and tell\u2019 sessions can be run by staff. These facilitated sessions will allow staff to use 3D printed models (and specimens) related to the VR models available in the headset component of the station.<\/p>\n<h3>1. Please tell us a little bit about the team behind\u00a0<em>Physical and Virtual\u00a0Show and Tell<\/em>.<\/h3>\n<p>The project is jointly led by<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/oumnh.web.ox.ac.uk\/people\/scott-billings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Scott Billings<\/a> (Digital Engagement Officer, Oxford University Museum of Natural History),<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/oumnh.web.ox.ac.uk\/people\/georgina-brooke\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Georgina Brooke<\/a> (Digital Content and Analysis Manager, Oxford University Museum of Natural History) and<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imm.ox.ac.uk\/people\/stephen-taylor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stephen Taylor<\/a> (Medical Research Council, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine Group Leader).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We are also supported by<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/warwick.ac.uk\/fac\/sci\/wmg\/people\/profile\/?wmgid=1238\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dr Paul Wilson<\/a> (Research Fellow, WMG, the University of Warwick),<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/oumnh.web.ox.ac.uk\/people\/imran-rahman\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dr Imran Rahman<\/a> (Deputy Head of Research, Oxford University Museum of Natural History),<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/oumnh.web.ox.ac.uk\/people\/dr-hilary-ketchum\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dr Hilary Ketchum<\/a> (Collections Manager; Palaeontology, Oxford University Museum of Natural History) and<\/li>\n<li>Peter Johnson (Museum Technician, Oxford University Museum of Natural History).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>2. How did you come up with the idea for <em>Physical and Virtual Show and Tell<\/em>?<\/h3>\n<p>They were originally pitched as two separate ideas! Scott and Steve independently submitted ideas to the GLAM Labs call issued by the IT Innovation Challenges. It was then suggested that we merge ideas as they were similar. This worked out really well as we now have a team with strengths in museum operational management as well as technical leadership and experience of content delivery in VR.<\/p>\n<h3>3. Why did you choose to apply for the IT Innovation Challenges scheme?<\/h3>\n<p>At the Museum we were attracted by having a finite amount of time and money to test, in a discrete way, how we could implement VR in gallery and evaluate its usefulness. The scheme seemed a perfect fit with our desire to have a sandpit environment to evaluate what we wanted to be doing in the field of emerging tech.<\/p>\n<h3>4. What was the application process like for you? Which tips would you give future applicants?<\/h3>\n<p>It was time consuming, so I\u2019d definitely recommend taking it seriously and thinking through a lot of the logistics of how the project will actually run upfront.<\/p>\n<p>I think in our case we were fortunate that a lot of the typical unknowns (either \u2018how will the museum like my idea?\u2019 or \u2018how do we technically implement it\u2019) were solved for us as our project team was cross disciplinary and straddled museum people and tech folk. If you don\u2019t have that, I\u2019d strongly recommend getting buy-in and logistical know how from the Museum. It\u2019s quite easy to come up with an idea that is un-implementable in a particular GLAM institution. Conversely, if you\u2019re not technical, I\u2019d recommend doing a lot of the upfront donkey work in terms of working out how the project will function. It means that your project plan will be much stronger and you\u2019ll come across as a much stronger candidate at the pitch.<\/p>\n<h3>5. What are your plans for the next few months? How will you realise your project idea?<\/h3>\n<p>The next thing we need to do is get Paul Wilson in a room together with Stephen and the museum professionals who have 3D models (Imran and Hilary). This is the downside of having a big and dispersed team &#8211; finding a time and place that works for everyone is not simple.<\/p>\n<p>Stephen has agreed to build a prototype of the in gallery furniture which will house the VR headset.<\/p>\n<p>Once we\u2019re a bit more confident of the 3D models we have, we need to identify what story we\u2019re telling and how we can make best use of the potential of VR with these models.<\/p>\n<h3>6. How will the\u00a0<em>Physical and Virtual\u00a0Show and Tell\u00a0<\/em>project bring benefit to students, staff and the University?<\/h3>\n<p>When you make a typical natural history museum visit, it can be difficult to get a sense of how specimens have been engineered, particularly if they are behind glass and\/or very small, or &#8211; with things like bacteria- invisible to the naked eye. Our <em>Physical and Virtual Show and Tell<\/em> gives people access to these specimens, but at high resolution and giving people the ability to grapple with specimens in 360 degrees. During the course of the project, we want to interrogate the full potential of VR and experiment with peeling away layers of fossils or seeing the bullet hole in the head of the dodo.<\/p>\n<p>Hopefully by the end of the project we will have a really good sense of what works and what doesn\u2019t in a VR format, meaning we can continue to deliver top quality VR content. This should bring ongoing benefit to visitors to our Museum!<\/p>\n<p>For more information about the project, please\u00a0contact\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:innovation@it.ox.ac.uk\">innovation@it.ox.ac.uk\u00a0<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this interview,\u00a0Georgina Brooke\u00a0talks about the Physical and Virtual Show and Tell project, which will bring Virtual Reality to the Museum of Natural History. This project is\u00a0one of four GLAM Labs projects funded\u00a0as part of this year\u2019s IT Innovation Challenges &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs-new.it.ox.ac.uk\/innovation-challenges\/meet-new-project-show-and-tell\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":404,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41661],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-projects"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs-new.it.ox.ac.uk\/innovation-challenges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs-new.it.ox.ac.uk\/innovation-challenges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs-new.it.ox.ac.uk\/innovation-challenges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-new.it.ox.ac.uk\/innovation-challenges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/404"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-new.it.ox.ac.uk\/innovation-challenges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1465"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-new.it.ox.ac.uk\/innovation-challenges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1534,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-new.it.ox.ac.uk\/innovation-challenges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1465\/revisions\/1534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs-new.it.ox.ac.uk\/innovation-challenges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-new.it.ox.ac.uk\/innovation-challenges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-new.it.ox.ac.uk\/innovation-challenges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}