Early powerpoint detailing the sense of place in the vitrual world.

1. Chapter 16: Dialing Up The Past PowerPoint Presentation by William Dunbar and Jasmine Demong

2. Place: Real and Virtual Place is the foundation for all virtual heritage projects; a binding theme within virtual prohects The nature of place is explored in multiuser games and RPGs Users tend to be doing more than moving and looking around How are these two similar?

3. Finding Place What creates a strong sense of place? Photorealism may have some value, but places are remembered more through atmosphere Interactive construction support the notion of “place” through shared customs Places tend to use composition of objects, spaces and conditions to evoke emotions and associations (London and fog) Culture becomes a feedback loop in place, and established a relation with the visitor

4. Elements of Place-making Eight criteria have been suggested for “cyber-placemaking” Setting for an event; engaging; provides relative location; provides authenticity; is adaptable; affords experiences; affords choice and control over transitions; inherently memorable Are those the only criterion needed? Missing key features of place This virtual recreation of The Great Wall of China meets the 8 criteria discussed above, but could there be more that makes it a virtual place than can be said with those criteria?

5. OTHER Elements of Place-making Places are not just memorable, but evocative Place gains unique character over time and through usage Place implies a certain type of setting, of occasion, of an instant in time Places define other places through other artifacts Place is “artifactually” defined Artifacts have past meaning that defines current use

6. Places and Functions A method of representing human culture within virtual places is within a hermeneutic dimension or capacity Hermeneutic = affords an actively engaged interpretation of the lives and intentions of past inhabitants Several virtual environment types (Pg. 341) Spatial Visualization (location, navigation) Activity-based (memorable, modable) Hermeneutic (symbolic, can represent home) When the environment is shaped and shapes interactions that are informed by cultural learning, then a place can be said to be a world

7. Interpretative Reconstructions of Place A reconstruction of a given historical place must try to give us an image that the original inhabitants would have seen Makes visitors to the place participants with interactive elements Make use of the original arrangement of furniture within a given place Allows the visitor to develop an awareness of the environment around them

8. Case Study: Palenque Project Construction of a place that contains interactive materials that can convey meaning more clearly Digital info is abstract and suggestive rather than complete Digital environment employs usage of tasks, events, artifacts and interactorsto enhance the user’s understanding of the project A cursory search of Google images found this reconstruction of a temple at Palenque. This may or may not be the same site mentioned in the text.