National Paralympic Heritage Trail App

app development | ux design | accessibility design

The National Paralympic Heritage Trail App was developed as part of a placement for Sam Brady, a PhD student working with the National Paralympic Heritage Trust. The app helps the user explore the local and international history of the Paralympic Games, with its historic origins at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. Users experience the area where the Paralympic games got their start through two walking trails: a virtual trail which includes audio, video and 3D model content and an accessible trail with physical signs which was developed to ensure an accessible route for wheelchair users to celebrate the Paralympic heritage on their doorstep.

 

National Paralympic Heritage Trust

 

The National Paralympic Heritage Trail App explores the local and international history of the Paralympic Games.

 
 
 

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Challenge

The main challenge for the NPHT app was making sure it was as accessible as possible. This meant making sure that the user experience allowed for enjoyable usage across all abilities and sensitivities.

Solution

We worked with a User Experience student intern from the University of York to help us research and achieve accessibility for users. Along with National Paralympics Heritage Trust, we also led several trials and incorporated user feedback. From this, we have included settings for text size and contrast adjustments, light and dark appearance as well as a setting for dyslexic readers. We have also included a menu that gives users information about the path to the next stop which includes information like wheelchair access and potential loud or busy areas.

Innovation

The National Paralympics Heritage Trail app has helped us to focus on ensuring that our future heritage trails and mobile applications will be as accessible as possible and has really helped us think through the vast and differing experiences that users will have with this kind of product.

 

“We approached (Experience Heritage) due to their app for Tang Hall, which had the right look and functionality we were looking for. The team at Experience Heritage were able to bring everything we wanted from that project into ours, whilst also adding further functionality around accessibility.  With them, we have been able to turn our ideas for a heritage trail into a functioning app. Both Bethany and Brant have been a pleasure to work with throughout this process.”

Sam Brady, National Paralympic Heritage Trust

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OSWALD ALLEN MEMORIAL

lASER sCANNING | reflectance transformation imaging | 3d MODEL PROCESSING

The Oswald Allen Memorial project sought to decipher the incredibly worn inscription on this Victorian era “Medicine Pot” memorial stone in the churchyard of St Lawrence Church in York. No records of the original inscriptions on the two engraved panels have been discovered and typical light-raking techniques weren’t enough to gather the required information. Instead, laser scanning and reflectance transformation imaging (RTI) were undertaken in order to reveal this memorial’s message.

 

Private client

 

The Oswald Allen Memorial project utilises the most niche digital heritage techniques in order to recover the past.

 
 
 

Challenge

Weathering has removed much of the detail from the surface of the two panels and in the worst places, chunks leave nothing of previous lettering to be deciphered. By using digital technologies, we sought to discern greater detail than can be seen by the naked eye by highlighting differences in depth of the etchings.

Solution

We combined laser scanning and RTI to gather as much depth information as possible and highlight whatever features of the text still remained. We worked with XR Stories and Sign’s Creative Labs, using two of their laser scanners of different resolutions, to capture as much of the surface as possible. Then using RTI on the physical object itself as well as on the 3D model, we were able to gather further depth information and pick out a few more details that were not previously seen. RTI is a method where multiple images are captured from the same angle while a bright light or flash is moved in order to create shadows to increase the visibility of surface details.

Innovation

The combination of laser scan data with RTI is a very niche area of digital heritage. It is currently being used in reading stone inscriptions as well as for capturing nearly invisible etchings in books and archival materials. We were able to bring our specialisms in heritage research and digital technology together to delve into this investigative process and bring a piece of the past to light.

 

Laser scan 3D model, flattened to perform RTI and depth analysis

What could be determined of the inscription based on the RTI and depth analysis.

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Buddha Statue Photogrammetry for 3D Printing

3D Modeling | Photogrammetry | 3D Printing Prep

The Buddha Statue 3D Model involved creating a 3D model of an historic artefact through photogrammetry and then post-processing the model so it was optimised for 3D printing.

Challenge

Joi Polloi were looking for a way to realistically recreate an artefact and give audiences a way to hold it in their hands without knowing it wasn’t the real thing. We settled on photogrammetry of an object within the Sheffield Museums’ stores. The 3D model would then be processed for 3D printing and painted at a later time.

Solution

Photogrammetry allows for highly realistic digital copies of objects and, for those made of fabrics such as stone, you can get very high quality results. Though 3D printers can now print colours, the colour printing isn’t precise enough to make a perfect colour replica. Therefore, we processed the mesh model and made sure it was fit for the 3D printing process.

Innovation

The process of creating a 3D model from an object using photogrammetry is quite straightforward and therefore quite an affordable option for those seeking ways to create digital or physical replicas that can be viewed by audiences in new ways.

 

Joi Polloi, Four Communications

 
 

The Buddha 3D model and print provide a relatively simple way to create a replica of a heritage object for further in-person interaction.

Related Blog Articles

Photogrammetry for 3D Printing

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Parlormade Building Photogrammetry

Photogrammetry | 3D Modeling
| Photogrammetric processing | Drone SFM

The Parlormade 3D Model is an engaging and creative way to educate and share with visitors the rich history of this shops’ past. The owners of the scone house wanted a way to share the fascinating stories from the building’s history in a way that could be engaged with while sitting inside enjoying a scone and a cup of tea or before customers even stepped foot inside. The photogrammetry model serves as a virtual tour of the building through all three levels and gives a sense of the size of the building when taken apart from its surrounding neighbours in the Shambles area of York.

Challenge

The shop owners wanted a way to showcase the 15th century building, inside and out, while drawing out some of the historical stories - some of which they’ve integrated into the very walls of the tearooms! For instance, there was so much more to be said about some of the infamous ladies of tea, like Queen Victoria, whose portrait hangs over the second floor staircase.

 

Parlormade Scone House, Little Shambles, York, UK

 

The Parlormade sketchfab 3D model provides an engaging way for audiences to explore this historical buildings on the famous Shambles street in York and learn more about its history through online interaction.

Related blog Articles

Case Study in SfM + Photogrammetry

 

Solution

It was decided that a photogrammetry 3D model of the interior and exterior would be created over a more conventional 360 tour as this would provide a more immersive and well-rounded experience of the structure virtually. With a 3D model, users could move around inside and see the building from different perspectives, and would not be limited to a path predetermined by the 360 images taken. It was also a way to fully get a sense of the building as it stands apart from the surrounding buildings and understand it as a whole unto itself.

Innovation

To produce a full model of a building like Parlormade, photogrammetry models of each floor were created by taking hundreds of pictures thoroughly capturing each space. Similarly, the exterior needed to be fully captured. For this, drone (or Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)) Structure from Motion (SfM) 3D modeling was used to reach the high angles required.

Models from both methods were then combined in post processing to create the complete model. This model was then put onto Sketchfab for easy viewing and informational points were added.

 
 
 
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CHERISH project Landscape Photogrammetry

Photogrammetry | 3D Modeling
| Photogrammetric processing

The RCAHMW CHERISH project sought to provide an interactive way for audiences to better understand some of the historically important landscapes along the coastline in Wales. Having carried out drone photography at four locations, they were then seeking to have photogrammetry models created and processed for uploading on to their page of the 3D model publishing site Sketchfab.

Challenge

Photogrammetry, and especially drone photogrammetry which collects vast amounts of data, creates huge point clouds. We were tasked to take the point clouds the RCAHMW had created, process them into models, and reduce their size so that they could be uploaded on to Sketchfab while keeping them looking high quality.

 

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW)
CHERISH Project

 
 

The RCAHMW landscape 3D models provide an engaging way for audiences to better understand these historic landscapes through online interaction..

Innovation

Photogrammetry of landscapes and the resulting 3D models are a relatively new solution to help audiences better understand and visualise an area that otherwise might only be viewed in whole by air.

 
 
 

“It was a pleasure to work with Experience Heritage. Communication throughout the process was just brilliant and the final products were exactly what we were looking for.”
- Dan Hunt, RCAHMW

 
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Nostell Priory Dolls’ House 3D Animation

Photogrammetry | 3D Modeling | Digital Animation

The Nostell Priory Dolls’ House 3D Animation involved the Priory’s 18th century dolls’ house which was being restored and placed in its own, new exhibit with in the house. Curators sought a 3D digital animation which would reconstruct the dolls’ house digitally and provide animation which displayed how the house’s doors, which are now separated from the main structure, would have slid open and closed. The digital animation, presented as bookends to a wider video presentation, is now currently displayed as part of the dolls’ house exhibition.

 

National Trust, Nostell Priory

 
 

The Nostell Priory Dolls’ House 3D Animation, as part of a video presentation within the exhibit, illustrates to visitors how the doors once slid open and closed.

 
 
 

Related Blog Articles

Case Study in Photogrammetry

Challenge

Curators at Nostell Priory wanted a realistic recreation of the historic and fragile dolls’ house in digital form. The intended animation would be a way to exhibit the movement of the object which was no longer available.

Solution

Photogrammetry (or the creation of a 3D model by lacing a series of photographs together) was chosen as the modeling technique because this would provide a much more realistic looking model and picture-perfect textures.

Because of its size and fragile nature, photogrammetry of the front and sides was carried out and the back and top had to be reconstructed with 3D software. Furthermore, because of the intricacies, the interior was represented by placing a 2D image over the front of the model rather than modeling it in 3D.

Innovation

The innovative technique of photogrammetry made it easy and affordable to recreate the artefact digitally and provide a unique storytelling device for Nostell Priory to feature along with the exhibit. Though it’s becoming more popular, as an offering from digital media providers photogrammetry is still quite a niche skill and something even more rare among companies specialising in visualisations for heritage.

 
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The Becket Connection

3D Modeling | Research

This project sought to provide an interactive visualization of Canterbury around the year 1450. Extensive research and modeling were carried out to recreate the entirety of medieval Canterbury at the time of Thomas Becket. Experience Heritage worked alongside digital creators and researchers at The Centre for the Study of Christianity and Culture (CCC) to help bring 15th century Canterbury to life.

 

The Centre for the Study of Christianity and Culture

 
 

The Becket Connection brings the streets of medieval Canterbury to life through this large reconstructive digital model..

 
 

Beth provided invaluable technical expertise on a project here at the University of York that focused on 3D visualisation. Her input helped us achieve what we were aiming for in terms of digital outputs from our work. We would absolutely recommend Experience Heritage to anyone needing advice or expertise on digital matters within the heritage sector.
- Pat Gibbs, CCC

 

Elizabeth Castle Jersey Project

Laser Scan Processing | Buildings Archaeology | AutoCAD

The University of York Archaeology Department, working with Jersey Heritage at Elizabeth Castle, carried out laser scans of the surviving WWII bunkers and casements to document them for a site survey report. As part of this, they required accurate and detailed floor plans and elevations of the underground structures.

After processing these laser scans through Leica Cyclone, Autodesk Recap and AutoCAD, we were then able to create vertical and horizontal cuts through the resulting 3D models. Using these slices, we traced features to create floor plans and elevations.

 

University of York, Department of Archaeology

 
 

The Elizabeth Castle project gave us the opportunity to work with some amazing and revealing laser scans of WWII bunkers and turn those into useful floor plans and elevation sketches.

 
 
 
 
 

Experience Heritage produced some lovely, accurate and detailed plans and sections from this scan data! It was great work and much appreciated.
-Dr Dav Smith, University of York, Department of Archaeology

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