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VRchaeology: Intro - Ep 14
37 Plays4 years ago
In this weeks episode, start part one of our discussion about archaeology and VR! A very abbreviated explanation of VR, it’s integration into archaeology, and what we think of its impact in archaeology. We will continue our discussion of VR being used in archaeology as well as Archaeogaming in the following parts!
Sources
- Schroeder, R., 1996. Possible worlds: The Social Dynamic of Virtual Reality Technology. Boulder: Westview Press.
- Sivan, Y., 2008. 3D3C Real Virtual Worlds Defined: The Immense Potential of Merging 3D, Community, Creation, and Commerce. Journal For Virtual Worlds Research, 1(1). Available at: https://journals.tdl.org/jvwr/index.php/jvwr/article/view/278
- Sutherland, I.E., 1968. A Head-mounted Three Dimensional Display. In Proceedings of the December 9-11, 1968, Fall Joint Computer Conference, Part I. AFIPS ’68 (Fall, part I). New York, NY, USA: ACM, pp. 757–764.
- Yee, N., 2014. The Proteus Paradox: How Online Games and Virtual Worlds Change Us-And How They Don’t, Yale University Press.
Contact
- Show
- Twitter: @idigitpodcast
- Email: [email protected]
- Alyssa
- Instagram: aal.archaeology
- Twitter: Lyssakemi
- Michaela
- Instagram: mm_digitalized
- Twitter: m_mauriello
Affiliates
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Transcript
Introduction to the iDicket Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
You're listening to the Archaeology Podcast Network. You're listening to the iDicket Podcast, a podcast where we talk about the student perspective of navigating the world of archaeology and anthropology.
Meet the Hosts: Michaela and Alyssa
00:00:17
Speaker
I'm your host, Michaela, and I'm your host, Alyssa. Welcome back to this week's episode. Hey. Hey, how's it going?
00:00:28
Speaker
You know, it's actually been a long time since I've talked to you. It has. It's kind of crazy since we usually talk every day. I know. We've just been so busy.
Michaela's Work Insights and Book Discussion
00:00:40
Speaker
I've like been working every day, which is great because I like money. Those 12 hour work days will really fill up that wallet. Honestly.
00:00:53
Speaker
I've been reading what I've been working and like, so I'm just observing dirt move and just kind of watching around, walking around. And then some things have been happening on the site that I've been working on. So then I'm trying to like not walk around as much because it's a little dangerous.
00:01:13
Speaker
What books have you been reading? Well, I'm mainly reading a book called assessing site significance. Assessing archaeological site, no, something along those lines. And it's just kind of like going around like with archaeological sites and such and figuring out their significance and what determines if the site is significant or not.
00:01:38
Speaker
There's like criterion A, B, C, D, but it's like they can all somewhat correlate to each other. And then at one point, it's just like, well, we're saying it's criterion B, but if it's like this, it's the criterion A and then I'm just like, all right, I'm just going to keep this book on me at all times.
Balancing Work and Life Challenges
00:01:54
Speaker
Is it specific to CRM work or just general archaeology?
00:01:58
Speaker
United States archaeology. Yeah. Nice. Yeah. Very useful. So just working a lot, not even, I mean, kind of living my roommate and I like go do things, but that's about it. Not doing a lot, which is fine. I just finished day seven out of 13 in my work week. I saw you've been documenting that. Yeah. 13 days in a row of work. Yeah.
00:02:24
Speaker
I was supposed to have Sundays off because they're not supposed to work Sundays, but they're working through the Sunday, so we all showed up to work today. Seven days a week. Yeah. I can't wait till next Sunday. I'm just going to sleep. Maybe. Maybe I'll go on a hike. A hike? I would not hike after that. We'll see how exhausted I am.
00:02:49
Speaker
How has your week been? How's your time been?
Alyssa's Academic Struggles and Coping Strategies
00:02:54
Speaker
This last week was particularly difficult because it was like the first week of actual schoolwork. So the first week of PhD was pretty much just like syllabus reading and everyone's like shopping for classes and that sort of stuff. The best week? Yeah, exactly. Like I'll never get that again.
00:03:16
Speaker
But so that was the first week and then last week was the first actual week of work and then RBG died and like Breonna Taylor's case and everything and so there was just a whole lot going on on top of like 300 pages of reading. It was just like not the best week. But yeah, I still have a lot to catch up on before tomorrow morning.
00:03:43
Speaker
Yeah, this is my life now. We're chilling. It's fine. It's such a weird time to be doing things because of just the thickness of the air at any given point in the day leading up to the November election. So yeah, it's weird to be reading archaeological theory when everything's on fire, but it's fine.
00:04:14
Speaker
And life does go on, which is the weirdest part of it all because it's not that you can't do anything, it's that it will still go on. Yeah. It's just no matter how much I stress out about it, it's still gonna happen, so. Yeah. Gotta find a balance.
Mental Health and Social Media Reduction
00:04:34
Speaker
Yeah. I feel like I found like a good balance in a way. Like there's some things that still like,
00:04:41
Speaker
I'm like, Oh my God, what? But other things I'm just like, I'm able to like process them a lot better, which is beneficial. And I'm able to like continue through my day and still be productive while.
00:04:54
Speaker
being informed and caring and doing everything I need to do. Yeah. I've definitely cut back on like social media intake for the last few weeks. And I think that's helped a lot. And even just like last week, I wasn't on social media a whole lot, but you still hear about all the big things that happened. So it kind of like proved that you don't need to be on social media in order to be up to date with like current events because you're going to hear about it anyway. So
00:05:24
Speaker
I need to stick to that and just not open my phone. How have you been enjoying that? Maybe enjoying is not the correct word to use, but... The social media. Yeah, the social media cut. It's been good. I mean, so it went from
00:05:47
Speaker
like absorbing tons and tons of information about like the political climate and like all the things that are happening with BLM and like all that and just very like rapid intake of information to less, but like you still have the feeling of everything still happening around me. So I don't think
00:06:07
Speaker
the inside of me has changed much, but I'm not constantly focused on, oh, what am I missing? What's next? Like that sort of mindset, like scrolling through social media. So that's been better. But yeah, I don't know. I think it's, it would be a different answer if it wasn't right now.
00:06:29
Speaker
If I was cutting social media like last year, it'd be a much different answer. I just feel so rejuvenated and I'm just like my own person. I know.
Reflecting on Life Changes
00:06:40
Speaker
I'm finding myself. Namaste. I really know what I feel like now without social media.
00:06:49
Speaker
So I took this two-day cleanse from social media. I can't do that voice anymore. Looking back like a year ago today, what is it, September, end of September, I just moved... No, wait, I was in Sacramento. I was almost moving to Cambodia. I was going to move to Cambodia a week from today.
00:07:12
Speaker
Yeah, it's crazy. Yeah. And then two years ago, we were moving to England. We were hanging out. We were in England. We had just met. It was our first week of friendship, like real life friendship. So much is happening to you. I know. Really? Yeah, it's insane.
00:07:32
Speaker
I was in Scotland at this time last year, contemplating if I wanted to come back to California or not. And then I decided like a month later, I was like, I'm buying this plane ticket back home. It was the day before my birthday too. And I was just like, happy birthday to me. I'm going to go be happy.
00:07:49
Speaker
You should have stayed. Oh God. I miss it. I really do. But at that moment of my life, nah. I needed to go home. I wish I could go back.
00:08:07
Speaker
I wish I could red trip to the Highlands right now. Do you know what? I mean, no, we can't. Let's do it. We could red trip somewhere, not the Highlands. We could. We could. Maybe when my work settles down in your reading, maybe if you have like...
00:08:24
Speaker
weekend that you could take off. I mean, this term, so I'm on a quarter system. So our term is only like nine weeks. Oh my God. So we're already like a third of the way through it. Oh my God. Which is crazy. So by November, we'll have Thanksgiving break.
00:08:42
Speaker
So I'm super down to do something. I'm super down. Moving on to. So what are we going to talk about today, Makayla? Yeah.
Exploring Virtual Reality in Archaeology
00:08:52
Speaker
So because of the whole, you know, pandemic, I mean, who doesn't know about that at this point? Am I right? A lot of museums, institutions and
00:09:03
Speaker
sites and such have created online virtual exhibits for their museums and showing off their artifacts in a digital way. And so I thought it would be appropriate to talk about VR and archaeology. Neat. Because when else is a better time to explore a place you've never explored except for a time when you literally can't go anywhere. But it's not even just for now.
00:09:27
Speaker
your whole life is just on the computer right now anyway, so may as well log on to these. Yeah, so we're going to talk about virtual reality and the integration into archaeology, the archaeology, and mainly just like an impact on how we think it flows as an experience with archaeology and just kind of like general feelings about it and how what we think mainly.
00:09:53
Speaker
I also just in the last couple years, I've learned about the archaeology and just the name the archaeology is so cool. I think flows into archaeology and then right and yeah, it was just meant to be always so it was just always meant to be some way shape or form.
00:10:13
Speaker
I mean, there's a lot of people talk about it, but there's an experience called the archaeology. It's on Steam. We'll link it below. I got some issues with it, but you know, whatever. And yeah, we'll have another episode talking about archaeology and gaming. It's pretty cool. So I guess what we should start with is what is virtual reality, virtual reality VR.
00:10:37
Speaker
Same thing because acronyms exist. Across my studies, academics and researchers have different methods of defining virtual reality and just different descriptions and what they consider to be VR and all this fun jazz. So I'm going to talk about a few people that I've come across in my research.
00:10:59
Speaker
So there's one person, Yisha Sivan, described virtual reality as a high-end user-computer interface that involves real-time simulation and interactions through multiple sensorial channels, which features visual, auditory, tactile, smell, and taste. In 1962, there was a VR system called the Sensorama Simulator, which was constructed by Morton Heilig, may or may not be correctly pronounced, the Sensorama Simulator,
00:11:29
Speaker
Wow, if you were to see a photo of this like you're just it's like a full immersion thing. Just think of a photo booth. When you just like ones that you like go and you have like take silly photos with your friends. Think of that. No, actually, that's not a great one to describe but
00:11:47
Speaker
Would it be like the Jurassic Park games at the arcade? Yes and no. Where you have like screens all around you and basically so it's but instead of going into this like seat that's inside with this giant screen in front of you with a little gun where you're just shooting at dinosaurs or poor dinosaurs. But I mean Jurassic Park. Oh Jeff Goldblum.
00:12:16
Speaker
instead of going into one of those simulations, you put your head into it.
00:12:23
Speaker
And then it kind of goes around you. It's like Midnight Gospel, where he's six and seven in the virtual reality thing and visits other planets. Basically, this simulator was an immersive visual experience and utilized four of the biosensors. So there is visual, audio, smell, and touch, including a rotating chair attached to the system. This is 1962. It's totally like a Chuck E. Cheese machine.
00:12:52
Speaker
Right? Yeah, definitely. It's like he had it patented or something of a sort and 57. And it was mainly like a video, but it had all these other senses. I want to know how they did the smell in this thing. There was just aromas triggered through the film. He hired a cinematographer to take videos of certain experiences that people go through in their everyday life. So it simulated a motorcycle ride through New York and created the experience by having
00:13:22
Speaker
the spectator, the person, the viewer, sit into a motorcycle, an imaginary motorcycle, I should say, while experiencing the street through the screen. There is a fan-generated wind that would happen, and then simulated noise and smell of the city. So what you would be smelling were released at certain times through the film.
00:13:44
Speaker
such as exhaust chemicals from a bus that the rider was approaching, petrol fumes, those smell of pizza, snack bars were recreated by the chemicals that were released as the aromas. I guess it still exists, but you just can't use it. Or it doesn't work. Yeah. That's so cool though. That must have been insane as like the first one ever.
00:14:07
Speaker
Yeah. And I think today we would mainly see that as four dimensions, like a 4D cinema experience like at Universal Studios with the Shrek variety. I remember that. They spray you with water. Yeah, and like rads are all over your legs. That's what Yisha Sivan described that to be virtual reality. Another researcher, Nick Yi,
00:14:31
Speaker
in 2014, defines virtual reality as being a specific meaning to create an immersive digital environment to take you to a different physical place, and then attributed the first virtual reality system to being developed by Ivan Sutherland in 1968.
00:14:48
Speaker
rather than in 1962 with the Censorama. So Sutherland was the first to develop first head-mounted display, HMD, which is what we see today with the Oculus Rift, the HTC Vive, et cetera. And HMD was produced before the term virtual reality was coined. And so he referred to his head-mounted display as a three-dimensional display, which was to present the user with perspective images
00:15:18
Speaker
That one is more of what we kind of see today. So it's definitely like bringing you to this physical place. But in a way that's still different than what we see today, because we see these created through 3D modeling, through these web applications or computer applications and software of models that people create. And they're not like physical places, but they are places created by artists and
00:15:47
Speaker
renders and all that stuff. Yeah, so those are the two definitions. When was the first time you experienced virtual reality? I'm trying to I don't remember the name of the arcade. But I used to go to this arcade as a kid. And they had two stories worth of games. And there was this one machine that had this like head mounted display up and I think it was like a
00:16:11
Speaker
like some first person shooter game. And so you bring this like head display down over your head and you're standing and you're holding the sides with tabs, like the little triggers to press the buttons and such. And then you literally like you're standing and you're turning around, moving around with this display on your head. You're moving the display. It's like, it's already been kind of like tracked and it can only go certain ways. So it's already like a 3d or not 3d.
00:16:36
Speaker
360 video game. And so you just played on there, but that was my first virtual reality experience. Side note, did that arcade also have a hot air balloon simulator thing? Yes. I think I've got to the same one. Game works in Ontario. Yeah, game works. Oh my God, we went to the same arcade. I remember my first experience, or not first experience, but the
00:17:04
Speaker
First experience I remember being like, oh wow, this is going to be really big soon, was actually in college. One of my friends was in the CS department and his professor was working on the first Oculus Rift. And so he got a prototype.
00:17:22
Speaker
And the only thing you could do on it was like be in space. And it was literally just like a stock photo of space. And you were just in there and you could like look around. And then there was also like a movie theater. So you were standing in a movie theater and you could look around and that was it. Oculus Rift. And I remember putting that on and I thought it was so crazy and I got so like disoriented and it was literally just like standing in space when you can do so much more with VR now.
00:17:52
Speaker
But yeah, I think it was my freshman year when that happened. So that was like 2013-14. That would make sense, yeah.
VR's Impact on the Public and Gaming
00:18:01
Speaker
Yeah, so now virtual reality has become its definitely become its own entity. And usually not everybody knows what it is, but a large group being a people are well acquainted with it and have it, especially because now it's becoming more accessible to the public with having cheaper prices.
00:18:24
Speaker
expensive, I think, I don't know. Cause there's different methods of having a virtual reality headset now. There's cheaper ones, which just allow you to watch videos and play little games on your phone. And those can be anything from like five bucks for like a little Google cardboard, where you just have this little, like little cardboard platform around your phone and you hold it up to your face.
00:18:48
Speaker
to like thousands of dollars. So just kind of like what you want to achieve with it if you want to play games, if you just want to experience videos and worlds and such. And generally it's for video games because that's not that it's all it's created for, but right now I feel like it's very catered towards gamers. And there's a quote by Schroeder in 1996 is
00:19:15
Speaker
Virtual reality systems do not offer an alternative reality. They do, however, provide simulated worlds that seem realistic. And that is what I definitely think is to be the... That's definitely a way of defining virtual reality that I see it more as, because it's not an alternative reality, it's just showing assimilated worlds that are made to be seen as realistic.
00:19:42
Speaker
in some way, shape or form. Because even though they might just look so fantastical when you view them or be in them, you still see them as being real. Because they are real as you experience them, but they're not real. So just don't think too hard when you're in them. What is real anyway?
Researching VR's Psychological Effects
00:19:59
Speaker
Yeah, I really want to look into like dissociation while you're in VR. That's a whole thing I try to like look really hard into. But there's not a lot of research into it. And I'm just like,
00:20:12
Speaker
Interesting. That'd be interesting paired with like the sensory chambers where you, or I don't know what they're called, desensory chambers, where you're like floating in water and just have no sound or light or anything around you.
00:20:30
Speaker
and people experience weird things in there. But that'd be cool to pair with VR, where it's just like your only senses are in the game. Do you know what, Alyssa? What? We are anthropologists. I think we need to do some participant observation. So I think we got to do both of these things and talk about it. Let's do it. I know. I'm down to go experience for myself.
00:20:56
Speaker
The history of the usage of archaeology within virtual reality was an early development alongside other VR experiences because researchers were discovering how to show others multi-sensorial involvement and inclusion of sites and objects in a 3D space.
00:21:14
Speaker
And so virtual archaeology introduced elements of virtual reconstructions and worlds for research and dissemination. So the use of the word, which I'm saying experience, does not correlate with any single definition, but it's to be considered as like a complex phenomenon calling for involvement in perception, action, motivation, and cognition. And it calls for user participation within the simulation they explore.
00:21:38
Speaker
What was the first V archaeology experience?
3D Modeling and VR in Archaeology
00:21:43
Speaker
Was it more like 3D models that you could like spin around and play with or was it trying to like mimic a site? To be 100% honest, I do not remember what was technically the first. I would have to say that it was just viewing 3D objects. There's not a lot of public variances where you're walking around the sites because
00:22:08
Speaker
They're just so intense because you have to create these really intricate 3D models of the entire areas of the site. When we're in York, there was a professor. He was creating this replication of this city in England that was created
00:22:24
Speaker
with 3D models and so students would have, not tasks, but they would have like these work placements to create these 3D models and add on to the city so that they can get this sizable city created within a reasonable amount of time because making 3D models takes a minute. And if they were to import that in VR and have tracks where people can walk through the actual sites, or not sites, the streets and see this,
00:22:55
Speaker
see the different buildings and walk around through the city. Like if you import that into an application like Unity, it can kind of easily be done, especially if it's already created within 3D models. And so that's some way that they can do that. But as like a first, I believe it was just visualizing 3D models or just like an image even. So that was the integration of VR and archaeology.
00:23:21
Speaker
Within the first section, we talked about VR and archaeology and how it became integrated in some way, shape, or form, or just the history of it in a very, very, very condensed explanation. The gist of it. You got the gist. I'm less versed in this field, but I still think it's quite cool. Just even by the way that technology is going, it's inevitable.
00:23:49
Speaker
that it's going to continue going in the direction that it is with VR. And so being able to utilize it in the ways that we can, such as VR archaeology, and having experiences in games, in museum experiences, and just modeling where you can just throw it in VR and just experience something in the three-dimensional way,
00:24:18
Speaker
Like surround sound where you're just physically there, but you're not there. I mean, you're virtually that. Yeah. Not before long we'll be in like ready player one world.
00:24:29
Speaker
I mean, they have virtual reality gaming stores where you just buy an hour, you're in virtual reality, you have the whole setup. There's even a thing in... It's like an internet cafe type thing. Basically. I haven't been to one. I mean, I do want to go to one, but I don't need to go to one because I have my own VR headset.
00:24:55
Speaker
I'm sure they have like a lot. Yeah, it's probably like surround equipment, a bunch of stuff.
00:25:03
Speaker
Well, I'll tell you about, it's not archaeological related, but there's an experience that you can do. There's a few locations. It's called The Void. And there's one that I went to in downtown Disney. And the first experience that they had was something Star Wars related. And I won't get into full detail because I can just go on about Star Wars. But you basically, you go in, you put on this backpack, which has the computer in it. You're given the helmet.
00:25:33
Speaker
the gun, you're acting as a stormtrooper infiltrating and everything. But so what you see in your headset is that everyone like there, you go in with up to four players for other people. And when you look at them, you see them as stormtroopers. Whoa. When you look into the room that you're about to enter that you, you know, you're entering a physical room, but you can't see it because you're in the headset. You see the scenario that they've created in this virtual reality experience.
00:25:53
Speaker
and you're given the
00:26:04
Speaker
And they call this hyper reality because it's an actual room. You just can't see anything. It gives me like black mirror vibes. So when you have the headset off, it's just like a black room. There's, you sit on a rail, like a real chair. That's just maybe like a plank of wood or something. Um, there's like open walls cause you walk through them, but it's very narrow. So you actually like follow a path in virtual reality or this hyper reality.
00:26:31
Speaker
and you're crossing this bridge, you feel this heat from like the lava and you shoot guns and then you press like actual buttons cause it's a puzzle and you're trying to get out of this room. And it's just physically there, but you're not there cause you're inside the system. It was so fun. Let me tell you about that. I want to try that. That's so cool. I highly recommend it. That's super cool. I remember seeing videos coming out about, it was probably
00:26:58
Speaker
the same company, but it's basically like a felt covered room with different shapes inside of the room, but everything's projected into your headset. All the obstacles in the room. Yeah, that's, that's so cool. It was really interesting. And one of my friends who I did my undergrad with, she was working there before she went off to get her master's in visual anthropology in Manchester.
VR's Intersections with Jobs and Social Life
00:27:24
Speaker
And she was just like, yeah, they've been doing this, this is kind of cool and stuff like that. And it was cool to hear like her perspective on working there. What a relevant job. Yeah. Yeah. Very relevant. Yeah. And I think it'd really be cool to have something like that for archaeology, being able to have like kind of this thing set up and
00:27:48
Speaker
maybe like 3D printed artifacts where it's like not fully detailed, but just like maybe like a little vase that's from projected onto it. Yeah. So it's like you're holding this a vase, but it's what you see is you see this like intricate, the little chess piece from 1500 years ago. So it's cool like that. That'd be, that'd be something cool. What are the implications of this? Like,
00:28:16
Speaker
Why is this useful for archaeology? There's like virtual reality experiences that you can find on applications such as Steam. And I mean, I did my dissertation on the game. It's a social VR game. You can play it also on the desktop. It's called VR Chat. And you interact with real people in this virtual spaces and you all have these avatars or characters that you embody.
00:28:43
Speaker
And you're able to experience these virtual worlds that are created by other creators, sorry, other players in the game who are the creators of the worlds. There's a few worlds that are, that solely import models and experiences from websites such as Sketchfab. And Sketchfab is a website, people, artists, archaeologists, even museums, input, 3D models of whatever.
00:29:14
Speaker
they're inputting. So the museums are putting in artifacts, or like big temples. Yeah, and then artists has put in their creations, like characters that they've made, worlds and such like that. So in VRChat, you're able to go into these 3D worlds, experience the
00:29:35
Speaker
heritage sites that people have imported and it's pretty cool experience and some are very detailed. Others did not size the world at all and you just kind of walk on this small, you're giant on this small world and you're just like, I shouldn't be able to stand on top of this temple. I don't know how I feel about this. The archaeology gives people who are physically unable to go to these sites
00:30:00
Speaker
Um, whether it be disabilities or financial reasons, or just, Oh, I just don't really want to go, you know, I don't want to really go. I'll only go there for this. It gives people the ability to go and experience certain things just from the comfort of their own home. I think you can also talk about the validity of it all though, and how video games are not accurate representations of these
00:30:28
Speaker
historic sites, archaeological sites, artifacts. And same with the museum experiences as well. They're constructed in a way just to create this 15 minute experience that people it's like, okay, you have to do this to get from point A to point B to point C, then you're done. I mean, even when you go to a museum, it's all out of context.
00:30:50
Speaker
also so yeah you could argue that it's the same idea you're experiencing the idea of the thing rather than where the thing was originally yeah it's more learning than anything i know it's not archaeology but paleontology
00:31:15
Speaker
But at the Yorkshire Museum, when we were there, there was an experience that was narrated by David Attenborough. And it was just, you're going and seeing this giant dinosaur and you're feeding it this branch and you have to bring up the branch to him and everything like that. And he eats the branch.
00:31:36
Speaker
And then that's it. But it's just kind of showing you the scale of it all. And it's not much showing a story, but it's just like, oh, this is just how big this dinosaur is. And you can only go to like three different spots or something.
00:31:48
Speaker
And before they had this Viking experience where they had like the front of the VR mask in the shape of this actual Viking mask that was found. And you were able to only like have this 360 view of the site and they're just showing like, Oh, this is kind of what you would see if you were there in this moment. And which is awesome. Like I would have to say that that's, those are like really good experiences to have.
00:32:18
Speaker
And they definitely show you a lot, but there's just so much more you could do. I'm sure we're gonna see some crazy developments in VR geology soon enough. I feel like VR in general, as you said, is very gamer-oriented. How do you think people should attempt to get other demographics interested in it?
00:32:49
Speaker
Not that it's difficult, but I think with the price range of it currently being so, I don't want to say outrageous because I feel like it could be more expensive than it is due to like, just like the pure technology within this small piece of equipment. I think having, I mean, even having more social
00:33:15
Speaker
integrations with virtual reality other than video games. So with Facebook, I know they have like Facebook VR or something where you're able to, it's this beta right now, but you're able to create these avatars and be with your friends that are in person or not in person, your, your real Facebook friends in these virtual spheres.
00:33:34
Speaker
You're able to explore virtual worlds and discover all new things that interest and inspire you. You can play games with each other and create worlds. And it's called Facebook Horizon.
00:33:50
Speaker
Right now it's for Oculus, but it's right at some beta, but so Facebook is getting ways. Great Facebook, but will that only be accessible in like a VR headset or is that something that's like desktop accessible to. VR headset, it looks like, but that's a way to get other people interested in this platform as what we were saying. And I think the social aspect of it.
00:34:21
Speaker
would be a good integration because we're as humans, we're social creatures and we're always looking for ways to talk with each other as we have created a handheld phone that we can connect with anybody in the world and created FaceTime where we can just see each other while we talk to each other. And technology is so vast. I think the, yeah, I definitely think the best way to do so is by integrating it into things that people are already used to.
00:34:51
Speaker
Cause I feel like even with that Facebook thing, if you can only do it with a headset, like people aren't gonna just go buy a headset to do that. But if it was like accessible on the desktop, even without like a headset, I could see people wanting to go buy the headset to make it better, but like they still have access to it anyway. Like VR chat, like you can just play on the desktop too without a headset. Yeah, I think if they did that,
00:35:20
Speaker
then it would like be a ramp into like the VR experience. Cause that wouldn't be necessarily seen as gaming. It's just like, Oh, it was my Facebook chat room. Yeah. It's a chat room. And I know with like, with VR chat, people went out and bought virtual reality headsets because
00:35:43
Speaker
of playing VR chat and they just want to be able to be immersed as their friends that they've been making are with like even like full body haptics and everything where they're just like moving their arms and their legs and you're just like, how are you doing this? They're like, Oh,
00:35:57
Speaker
I have a tracker and it's like, ah, makes sense. So I think in that aspect, especially if it is accessible on desktop, they'll bring more people to buy in these virtual reality headsets. Not that everyone needs to have a virtual reality headset, but it's one way to have that integrated and make experiences such as archaeology more present because everyone likes to watch documentaries and stuff going all around the world like Ariel America and
00:36:23
Speaker
Let's go to Antarctica today, guys. That would be cool. I'm sure, yeah, like when you're watching a documentary, it'd be cool to be able to put on your 3D glasses or whatever and actually be in the documentary. I'm sure that'll be a thing soon. They are doing that already because you're able to watch videos and some movies within virtual reality. Like you can be watching this like big screen, you have to like turn your head.
00:36:49
Speaker
And that's mainly a 360 video, which I made a film using a 360 camera and it was about Polynesian dance. And you're able to like turn all around and see all these dancers around you and seeing how they move and how they dance and cool thing to do. And it's a cool experience, but for like, it sometimes gets really tiring watching a video and eye straining.
00:37:16
Speaker
But when you are actively doing stuff like moving around in this virtual experience, like a 3D world, it kind of takes your mind away from just hyper-focusing onto a singular event, whereas there's depth and perspective, which is wild.
00:37:37
Speaker
you know when something is far away, you can hear things that are far away with like the mineral audio. It's super cool. I definitely think that this era of COVID and everything is like a huge catalyst for the possibilities with VR too. Just because it's proven that people can do what they need to do from home for the most part, like everyone in a tech job, everyone in
00:38:04
Speaker
Like you can do school online, albeit it's not like the best, but I think that's like motivation to figure out ways to make it a lot more interactive instead of just like Zoom face to face and like incorporate that sort of stuff too. I feel like a lot of stuff we're going to see come out with like classroom and office integration and that sort of thing with VR. I think it'll be cool to see.
00:38:33
Speaker
What would have been cool for like the graduation ceremonies? Because did you ever see the ones that we made a Minecraft to graduation ceremony? How like the actual, having that in VR, so they're actually able to do it, but without being there and you still feel, I mean, you still feel immersed, but you might, you'll still know that you're not physically there, but being around the people in VR can be like I was saying, there's like a dissociation of it all.
00:39:01
Speaker
It's mentally a lot nicer. Yeah. Yeah. And then just like being on a screen on Minecraft and you're just like, hi, nice. Yeah. There's a lot to say about the archeology, especially in gaming. And I definitely think we should have another episode about archeology and gaming and go into it a little bit deeper.
00:39:22
Speaker
This is just, this is just skimming the surface. Yeah, this is the intro episode. And we'll be back after this little break. In this last section, we're going to be talking about the impact and how we think it flows as an experience with archaeology. I got feelings about it. What are your feelings about it though, Alyssa? My feelings.
00:39:46
Speaker
My feelings, I think as a non-gamer, I would call myself a non
VR's Future and Potential in Archaeology
00:39:54
Speaker
-gamer. I play some games but I don't seek out gaming. I would say that I'm not particularly drawn to a virtual archaeology experience.
00:40:08
Speaker
um but if i was like in the field or at a museum and they had it i wouldn't shy away from it but i don't think i would be inclined to like look up different experiences to experience for archaeology like it doesn't
00:40:28
Speaker
interest me from what I've seen so far and like you don't see a lot of VR just being advertised anywhere so I think like if it was in my face like hey look at this cool thing we have and there were like ads everywhere and whatever I might be interested in like checking it out but I feel like
00:40:49
Speaker
I'm not super aware of anything that's happening because I'm not studying that field, even as an archeologist, like I'm not aware of a whole lot of the VR stuff going on. So right now in this moment, I wouldn't feel the need to go seek out VR. Yeah, I think that's what we need to work on is like getting the attention of people and like making them want to go experience it.
00:41:18
Speaker
During my research for the archaeology, I didn't come across that many. I thought I was going to come across a lot more, and some of which I couldn't even play because I didn't have an HTC Vive.
00:41:34
Speaker
The department did, so I was able to do it, but it was like I wasn't readily accessible to do it even with my headset. And even the V-archeology game that there is, there was a lot of glitches in it and it was just a prologue. So it was just this very little experience that was there and that was created several years ago. And so it was just like, ah, they're going to be more to this because that would be cool. I would want to play more of this because it was cool to like
00:42:03
Speaker
dig, I'm using air quotes, dig in VR. There are some things to be said about the experiences that are there. And I'll, I'll link some in the description because it's hard to explain, not hard to explain them, but you definitely need to view them and see how you feel it. Yeah. Yeah. And everyone has different opinions about them as well, being like, you know, I'm just not a fan of the format and this and that.
00:42:32
Speaker
But one thing that I have to say, even as a digital archaeologist is like, I'm not a fan of them taking over everything. And especially in, in the sites, and I'm not just virtual reality, I should say, just in general, like having these digital methods take over everything when you're like visiting museums, you're just looking at your screen, rather than looking at the actual object. And
00:43:02
Speaker
So, I don't know, I'm trying to say. So having virtual reality is a good accessibility point for people to be able to experience the sites, the archaeological sites, heritage sites, experiences within the museums from your home. But I don't think we're there yet though, where it's like worth. Worth going out buying a virtual reality headset. Yeah. But I do think we will get there.
00:43:30
Speaker
Yeah, I think we'll be getting there soon from now. You know, seeing a lot of museums going virtual and having these virtual exhibits, they just need that extra little push because it's like,
00:43:43
Speaker
I know there's a lot of museums that have 3D models and they put them on Sketchfab or on their websites. You're able to access Vue and move things around, but if they were to put them into an experience where you can access them on desktop or even in VR where you can actually move things around, you can enlarge it, you can hold it within your virtual hand and being able to determine the sheer size of it.
00:44:14
Speaker
archaeology in VR is going to be really valuable when we get the 4D component to VR, like where you actually feel what you're holding, like pressure on your hand. And like people are already, yeah, people are already working on that where you can like feel rain or feel a spider like on your hand and stuff like that.
00:44:34
Speaker
So I think once we get to that point being accessible, that's when archaeology will be really cool in VR because a lot of archaeology is touch and like feeling the weight of things and being able to like feel the grooves of a piece of pottery or that sort of stuff. So I think once we hit that, that's when I think our field is going to take off in the VR world.
00:45:01
Speaker
Yeah, I would even have to say that the site that I was in in Bulgaria did photogrammetric models on every single layer of the trenches that were being excavated.
00:45:15
Speaker
So you're able to digitally restore each layer of the trench that could even go into like a training lab or something. So you don't actually have to go out into a site to experience and like destroy and keep digging when you don't need to dig or spend thousands of dollars on a field school. Or you can, when you're in classes or going through a certain course or whatever, you go through this experience and you start digging and having some sort of practice.
00:45:45
Speaker
That would be really cool. And not to take place of steeled schools, of course, but...
00:45:50
Speaker
have a total like Star Trek hologram thing in the middle of class and take apart all the layers of a site. Yeah. That'd be cool. Every student in like VR is trying to do this thing. You see each other across the site and you wave at each other in virtual reality. And then you go back to digging with your little virtual trowel. And then you come up with the actual object that was discovered at the site because it's been documented. And then the actual object was documented as well in photogrammetry. So you're able to hold it.
00:46:20
Speaker
as it was found. Yeah. Maybe I should make that. Make that a thing because that sounds super cool. Yeah. Because I did that right before I went into England too.
00:46:35
Speaker
And, or not before, but before I applied to go to York and I was just like, this would be such a great experience. Like this could happen. This should happen. And it's a great training. It's great for people who are interested in archeology and they want to learn more. Cause people do like this, like little, little quote unquote digs and little fun things, just insane or something where they're at the museum and they have like this little excavation air quotes. And.
00:47:02
Speaker
people enjoy it. It puts them into another method, like another career without actually going into the career. Imagine what it would be like to be an archaeologist. And people love that, especially with Indiana Jones and they're just like, oh my gosh, archaeology. Then we get romanticized and all that stuff, which is, you know, I love dinosaurs.
00:47:29
Speaker
It's stuff like that, which brings me excitement. And I'm liking what I have been seeing over the last few years, but there's just so much more we can do. And I know I'm not like the most digitally artistically talented person, but I just have so many ideas. I was like, you just got to find a techy person to help. Yeah. Yeah. But so it can be done.
00:47:57
Speaker
But I think with the impact of it all, there's a lot that can be said about that. It should never take away from the actual site. And of course what we're portraying within these virtual worlds has been, it could be changed within the next day because it's been recorded in a specific moment of history in the present time. As soon as you take a photograph, that moment's gone, you know?
00:48:26
Speaker
It's one second, you'll never get that second back. How you see it in virtual reality, it does not mean that's how it exists to the present day. So it's like it needs to be consistently updated maybe, or being able to put like, hey, this was the day that I was recorded.
00:48:42
Speaker
Make sure you have the authenticity of it all. There's just so much to say and it's hard to condense it all. So that's great that this is part one of the series of the archaeology. Part one of 20,000. Just kidding. In conclusion, VR has lots of potential. Potential. But we're not there yet? Not there yet.
00:49:06
Speaker
But we're getting there. Yeah. We're getting there. I hope this was a nice little prologue to the concept of VR and archaeology. Because there's a lot to be said and we barely scratched the surface. And I hope this is somewhat informational at all.
00:49:32
Speaker
So until next time, see ya when we see ya. Yeah. Bye. Bye. This show is produced by the Archaeology Podcast Network, Chris Webster and Tristan Boyle in Reno, Nevada at the Reno Collective.
00:49:53
Speaker
This has been a presentation of the Archaeology Podcast Network. Visit us on the web for show notes and other podcasts at www.archpodnet.com. Contact us at chrisatarchaeologypodcastnetwork.com.