Development of the Virtual Reality Application: “The Ships of Navarino”

Abstract

Virtual reality and 3D modeling techniques are increasingly popular modes of representation for historical artifacts and cultural heritage, as they allow for a more immersive experience. This article describes the process that was adopted for the development of a virtual reality application for four ships involved in the historic battle of Navarino. The specific naval battle was the culmination of military operations during the Greek Revolution in 1827, in which the allied British, Russian, and French fleet defeated Turkish-Egyptian forces. Representative 3D models of four significant warships that participated in the battle of Navarino were created: the British “Asia”, the French frigate “Armide”, the Russian “Azov”, and the Ottoman “Kuh-I-Revan”. These historic ships were digitally designed according to historical drawings and a VR battle environment was developed, which visitors can experience. In addition, the 3D models were generated by a 3D printer and painted according to the digitized ship-models. The development was conducted within the realm of the NAVS Project. The VR application, “The Ships of Navarino”, as well as the 3D-printed models were presented as part of a physical exhibition hosted in the Eugenides Foundation in Athens, Greece.

Innovating Industrial Training with Immersive Metaverses: A Method for Developing Cross-Platform Virtual Reality Environments

“…Although engaging with the virtual world offers many opportunities for viewers, the performance of the current technology is severely constrained. The Meta Quest aims for 300,000-500,000 triangles and 150-175 draw calls per frame, compared to the Oculus Rift S's 1-2 million triangles and 500-1000 draw calls per frame [7]. Simply put, this implies that in order to maximize speed, the number of polygons in the 3D models had to be drastically reduced, and the quantity of materials, texture sizes, and lighting had to be optimized.…”

“…Despite their various applications, according to the authors' knowledge, there is no previous work in the literature specifically addressing the technical issues related to the development of VR applications for standalone devices like the Meta Quest 2 (from Meta Platforms, currently the world's best-selling virtual reality headset because of its high quality, competitive price, and ability to operate without cords, giving users freedom of mobility) [7]. Recent works researched the use of immersive virtual reality to enhance industrial training; however, they lack in-depth exploration of the software development process, particularly in terms of creating a framework for implementing such training programs [8,9].…”

3D Reconstruction & Modeling of the Traditional Greek Trechadiri: “Aghia Varvara”

“…After "Aghia Varvara" was retopologized (Figure 13) and UV unwrapped using Blender [45], detailed maps were created with the use of Adobe Substance 3D Painter [46]. The process followed for this is similar to the one followed for "The Ships of Navarino", although "Aghia Varvara" is much less demanding in materials, and due to the fact that this is not a Virtual Reality project reducing the texture quality is not deemed necessary [47]. Reference pictures taken from the existing boat were used in the creation of texture maps (Figure 14).…”

“…Furthermore, the ship model was printed on an SLA [49] 3D printer named iSLA300 [50]. Generally, the printing process in the case of "Aghia Varvara" is similar with the one followed for "The Ships of Navarino" [47], since the same printer was used in both cases.…”

Digital Repository as a Service (D-RaaS): Enhancing Access and Preservation of Cultural Heritage Artifacts

“…Furthermore, virtual reality technologies significantly facilitate both formal and informal learning in scenarios where physical place-related restrictions or high-risk factors are present [32]. In environments such as museums and archaeological sites, characterized by constraints and risks due to the nature of cultural artifacts, cultural organizations increas-ingly adopt virtual reality technologies to engage and educate new generations [40,41]. This assumption is based on the notion that newer generations are more inclined to embrace advanced technologies (including virtual reality and augmented reality) for both educational and cultural purposes [42].…”