Digital Exhibition in the Metaverse “Soil,Water,Fire: seeking the art of the earth from nature to use and its use in the Museum”

Digital Exhibition in the Metaverse “Soil, Water, Fire: seeking the Art of the Earth from Nature to Use and its use in the Museum”

A special, digital exhibition of the Science and Technology Museum of the University of Patras (STM) in the Metaverse opened for visitors, presenting the final projects of the action of the Local Cultural Network of Primary and Secondary Education Schools of Achaia under the general title “Soil, Water, Fire: Seeking the art of the earth from nature to use and its use in the Museum”.

The local network was co-organized in 2021-2022 by the STM and the Departments of Cultural, Primary and Secondary Education of Achaia. The Keramos Laboratory-Center for the Study of Archaeological Material of the Department of Geology, the Patras Visual Artists Association and the Archaeological Museum of Patras also participated. It is recalled that the networks are educational activities where groups of teachers from different schools and other organizations come together for a common purpose throughout the school year. Regular online meetings and seminars took place throughout the year, as well as visits with participation in relevant interactive educational activities at the STM.

Specifically, in the digital exhibition one can find a) introductory material that is part of the research of the Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Geology, Mrs. Nikoula Kougia, archaeologist, b) photographic material from the exhibition that took place in person at the Science and Technology Museum and c) material produced by the schools that participated in the network: Arsakeio Elementary School of Patras, A1 class, 3rd Elementary School of Patras, B1, B2 class, Special Vocational Training Laboratory of Achaia, Unified Special Vocational Junior High School and High School of Patras, 6th Junior High School of Patras, 14th Junior High School of Patras, 20th Junior High School of Patras and Aigeira High School.

The opportunity is provided to those who would like to connect to the temporary exhibition “Taking a digital look at the Future” at the following link: https://framevr.io/stmuseum-keramika-2022 through the Firefox Mozilla or Google Chrome browser.

The digital exhibition was implemented in the three-dimensional virtual reality (VR) environment FrameVR in the Metaverse, allowing simultaneous access of up to 15 visitors through a personalized digital character (avatar). Visitors can communicate with each other through audio (speech), video and short text messages (chat) thereby exchanging in this way their impressions of the student’s exhibits.

Digital Virtual Reality (VR) Exhibition in the Metaverse “Soil, Water, Fire: seeking the art of the earth from nature to use and its use in the Museum”

Log in to the digital exhibition using Firefox Mozilla or Google Chrome at the web address https://framevr.io/stmuseum-keramika-2022

Brief Instructions for Connection and Use

1. After opening the link write your name and select “Connect”

To navigate & to communicate in the exhibition

     2.  Move: Use the keyboard’s arrow keys ↓ ← → (up, down, left, right) to move. Press the arrow ↑ 'up' to move forward, the ↓arrow. 'Down' to reverse. Use the arrows με← → to move sideways, without 'turning the head'.

     3. Turn: In order to change direction and “twist your head” in the virtual environment and see what's left, right, up, or down, use your mouse by left-clicking in the middle of the screen + dragging the mouse left or right. When turning in the desired direction, e.g. towards a door left or right, you can use the keyboard arrow ↑ to walk there.

    4.  Interaction with images: To see an object, you can move close to it to study it. Some objects allow you to download them to your computer by clicking on them, while others open hyperlinks on the World Wide Web (www).

   5. Interaction with pdf: In the exhibition, you will find in addition to images also pdf presentations as well as videos. In pdf, you can change the displayed slide by left-clicking with the mouse on the <and> buttons that appear inside the object box.

   6. Video Interaction: Similarly, you can start and stop a posted video using the buttons that appear inside the box when you move your mouse there.

   7. Audio communication: To activate (but also to turn off your microphone) press the “Voice” button at the bottom of your screen.

   8. Communication with text messages (chat): To open (but also to close the chat of the exhibition) press the 'Chat' button at the bottom of your screen. In the right pane that opens, you can enter a text message that will be publicly viewed by the other logged-in users in the exhibition.

The digital exhibition was implemented in the three-dimensional virtual reality (VR) environment FrameVR in the Metaverse. The digital exhibition can be accessed simultaneously by up to 15 visitors through a personalized digital character (avatar).

Table of Contributors for the creation of the digital exhibition “Taking a digital look at the Future” in the Metaverse:

Coordination: Peny Theologi-Gouti

Content editing: Nikoula Kougia, archaeologist, Collaborating schools

Photo Gallery: Athena Pilarinos

VR 3D environment design: Stelios Mystakidis

Creation of a 3D VR environment: Stelios Mystakidis

Technical support: Stelios Mystakidis