ATLAS꞉ Metaverse Cultural Heritage Museum

A Design Concept (2022)

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This is a design concept (First Class) that my friends and I developed for an assignment in the module
Software Engineering and Professional Practice & Building Usable Software at the University of Birmingham.

I was nominated as a Teaching Assistant for the same module in the subsequent year (2023).

Group Members:
Yannes Kam (MSc Computer Science)
Sarah Leung (MSc Computer Science)
Han Li (MSc Computer Science)
Haotian Li (MSc Computer Science)
Kehan Liu (MSc Computer Science)
Kenshiro Sugiyama (MSc Computer Science)
Manni Cheung (BSc Computer Science)
Vanessa Rujipatanakul (Exchange Student, Computer Science/Software Engineering)

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Introduction

Cultural heritage serves as the foundation and a unifying force for cultural identity formation. Artifacts, monuments, a collection of structures and sites, museums with a variety of values—these are all examples of tangible cultural heritage (UNESCO, 2003). Preservation of cultural heritage, be it tangible or intangible, is essential for maintaining cultural variety and inspires present and future generations to further their own cultures. However, for museums, traditional methods to preserve cultural heritage, the following pain points are identified:

  • Despite preservation measures, natural disasters, accidents, deterioration through time, and repeated use nevertheless pose risks to tangible heritage. Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris, for instance, was burned to the ground in 2019. It has not yet reopened and is currently undergoing reconstruction.

  • Due to their complexity, limited market, and economic difficulties, many intangible cultural heritages are on the verge of extinction. For instance, the number of Jatras troupes in Bangladesh declined from 210 to 107 in 2018 over a 30-year period. Less than 40 of these troupes are currently operational because performing in Jatras is not a reliable source of income (Kamol, 2018). Due to geographical constraints, it is difficult to promote the local intangible cultural heritage abroad to reach wider audiences for learning the skill or selling the performance or artifacts.

  • In the past 12 months ending in March 2020, 51% of respondents reported visiting a museum or gallery (U.K. DCMS, 2020). Spending time with family or friends and interest in the museum collection are the two main motivations for going (50% and 40%, respectively). On the contrary, lack of interest (41%) and lack of time (38%) are the biggest barriers to visit. Following the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in 2020, participation plummeted and has not yet fully recovered to its pre-COVID level. Only 8 million people visited DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries between April and June 2022, down from 13 million between April and June 2019 (U.K. DCMS, 2022). To reengage the public, several museums organise virtual exhibitions through video conference; Nonetheless, the experience is incomparable to in-person visits. Additionally, independent, micro, and rural museums are less likely to be able to go digital (Museum Development England, 2021). Moreover, for certain countries like China, strict travel restrictions and social distancing measures are still in place that stop tourists from visiting.

Purpose

Following the above analysis, Atlas is designed for the following purposes:

  1. Preservation of heritages by maintaining a digital copy, free from physical damage.
  2. Enhancement in user experience with heritages to arouse interest of public by providing on-demand immersive visits with large collections, regardless of geographical constraints, without compromising social interaction.
  3. Education to spread knowledge and skills in heritage and lower the learning barrier with customised coaching.
Sample screen of the Atlas Prototype.