Extending Model Use in Virtual Heritage: User-Centric Implementation of a Protected Remote Rendering Visualization Tool

Abstract

Virtual Heritage (VH) is the application of computing technologies, in particular, 3D graphics, to the documentation, study, preservation, and dissemination of cultural heritage. Given recent advances in both software and hardware, there has been a veritable boom in the production of 3D digital models of cultural heritage. These 3D digital models represent significant investments and stand at the intersection of claims to copyright of the digital replica and to ownership of the underlying digitized cultural property. Thus, it is understandable that creators of digital products, cultural heritage institutions, and owners of cultural property may desire to have control over the use, characteristics, and dissemination of VH models. Despite the growing prevalence of 3D digital models in VH, their role in the production of new knowledge remains to be examined in depth. This dissertation presents the design, development, and implementation of a publicly available tool for the protected visualization of high-resolution 3D VH models in a web browser. First, I survey the historical precedents for the use of 3D digital models in VH and its related fields, with special attention to the epistemological function of models. Second, current practices and needs are documented through surveys and interviews with VH scholars. Third, I present the basic visualization tool and demonstrate its security and usability. Finally, the results of the literature review, surveys, and interviews are used to design and implement a more fully featured visualization tool based on protected remote rendering, one intended to more clearly address the actual needs and practices of scholars in the new field of VH.