Step inside the Image:   Interpretative Interfaces for  3D Historical Content

@timelessfuture Hugo Huurdeman University of Amsterdam postdoc, Virtual Interiors project
Step inside the Image:   
Interpretative Interfaces for  
3D Historical Content
CREATE SALON, 23/09/2020

3D in the
Humanities
Engagement with complex
data objects
Lischer-Katz et al., 2019; Kraak et al, 2018

3D in the
Humanities
Enhanced methods of analysis
Papadopoulos & Schreibman, 2019;  
Sullivan & Snyder, 2017
data objects

3D in the
Humanities
Exploring issues of human
experience
Sullivan, 2017; Gutiérrez et al., 2007;  
Papadopoulos & Schreibman, 2019
data objects

3D in the
Humanities
experience
Modeling as an interpretative and
exploratory tool  
Piccoli, 2018; Sullivan & Snyder, 2017
data objects

3D in the
Humanities
data objects
experience
Understanding historical and
cultural context 
e.g. Lischer-Katz et al, 2019; Agugiaro et al., 2011
Modeling as an interpretative and
exploratory tool 
Piccoli, 2018; Sullivan & Snyder, 2017

3D in the
Humanities
More and
more scholarly
3D content
produced

How to represent
this in 3D interfaces?
3D in the
Humanities
More and
more scholarly
3D content
produced

How to represent
this in 3D interfaces?
3D in the
Humanities
More and
more scholarly
3D content
produced 3D user interfaces
Missing UX and UI
standards, guidelines
Wood, William, Copeland (2019)
Conveying complexity of
underlying research (1)
Piccoli & Huurdeman, 2020;  
Huurdeman & Piccoli, in prep.
Personalization &
customization (2) 
Navigation & search (3)
Huurdeman & Piccoli, 2020;  
Huurdeman, 2018

3D user interfaces
Missing UX and UI
underlying research
Personalization &
customization 
Navigation & search
Huurdeman, 2018

3D visualization Voorhuys Pieter de Graeff (Chiara Piccoli)

3D User Interface
All the assumptions & data  
that went behind it  
 
(modeling decisions,  
uncertainty, underlying data)

3D User Interface
All the assumptions & data  
that went behind it  
 
(modeling decisions,  
uncertainty, underlying data)
How can we make the “hidden” part more visible?

Experimental prototype Virtual Interiors viewer

Contextual
information 
Chiara Piccoli

Recon-
struction
information

Recon-
struction
information
Links to
sources

Links to Art
& Arch.
Thesaurus
Recon-
struction
information
Links to
sources

Links to Art
& Arch.
Thesaurus
Recon-
struction
information
Links to
sources
Associated
images

Links to Art
& Arch.
Thesaurus
Recon-
struction
information
Recon-
struction
conﬁdence
Links to
sources
Associated
images

Analysis
layers with
conﬁdence
information

3D user interfaces
Missing UX and UI
underlying research
Personalization &
customization 
Navigation & search
Huurdeman, 2018
Personalization &
customization 

Explore space with
naturalistic or
analytical lighting
settings

Try out different
arrangements of
objects

Add custom
annotations

3D user interfaces
Missing UX and UI
underlying research
Personalization &
customization 
Navigation & search
Huurdeman, 2018
Navigation & search
Huurdeman, 2018

Searching and
highlighting objects

Exposing linked data structure
Map of
Zuid-
Polsbroek
Oak Table with
marble top
Heren-
gracht
573

Leupeni
us
created by
Rĳks-
museum
view other works  
by Leupenius
view similar works  
in the Rijksmuseum
exhibited in
…
Map of
Zuid-
Polsbroek
Oak Table with
marble top
Heren-
gracht
573

Leupeni
us
created by
Rĳks-
museum
view other works  
by Leupenius
view similar works  
in the Rijksmuseum
exhibited in
…
Pieter de
Graeff
Portrait of
Jacoba
Bicker
Portrayed in
Married to
…
…
Jacoba
Bicker
Map of
Zuid-
Polsbroek
Oak Table with
marble top
Heren-
gracht
573

Integration of 3D, 2D & data sources
Virtual Research Environment demonstrator
User  
Interface
3D
Docs  
& Data
2D

Usability studies (PC, VR)
User studies: Jan ’20 & Spring ’21
SIGN UP here: bit.ly/3d-study
Interested to try out our prototype 3D user interfaces?

Conclusion
• Opening up access to 3D historical content  
within Virtual Interiors project

• Conveying complexity

• Customization & Personalization

• Navigation & Search

• Towards more interpretative and “reﬂective” user interfaces
SIGN UP here: bit.ly/3d-study

References
• Agugiaro, G., Remondino, F., Girardi, G., Von Schwerin, J., Richards-Rissetto, H., & De Amicis, R. (2011). QueryArch3D: Querying and
Visualising 3D Models of a Maya Archaeological Site in a Web-Based Interface. Geoinformatics FCE CTU, 6, 10–17. https://doi.org/
10.14311/gi.6.2

• Bolter, J. D., & Gromala, D. (2006). Transparency and Reflectivity: Digital Art and the Aesthetics of Interface Design. In Aesthetic
Computing (p. 9). MIT Press.

• Gutierrez, D., Frischer, B., Cerezo, E., Gomez, A., & Seron, F. (2007). AI and virtual crowds: Populating the Colosseum. Journal of
Cultural Heritage, 8(2), 176–185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.culher.2007.01.007

• Huurdeman, H. C. (2018). Supporting the complex dynamics of the information seeking process. PhD thesis. https://dare.uva.nl/search?
identifier=1e3bf31a-0833-4ead-a00c-4cb1399d0216

• Huurdeman. H.C., and Piccoli, C. (in prep). Creating and publishing 3D reconstructions. To be published in 2021.

• Kraak, M. J., Weber, A., van Lottum, J., & Engelhardt, Y. (2018). Toward VR Eventscapes for Spatio-Temporal Access to Digital Maritime
Heritage. 2018 IEEE 14th International Conference on E-Science (e-Science), 413–414. https://doi.org/10.1109/eScience.2018.00129
• Lischer-Katz, Z., Hardesty, J., McDonald, R., Cook, M., Wittenberg, J., Hall, N., Johnson, J., & Carlisle, T. (2019). Supporting Virtual
Reality and 3D in Academic Libraries—Defining Preservation and Curation Challenges. Proceedings iPres 2019

• Papadopoulos, C., & Schreibman, S. (2019). Towards 3D Scholarly Editions: The Battle of Mount Street Bridge. Digital Humanities
Quarterly, 013(1)

• Piccoli, C. (2018). Visualizing cityscapes of Classical antiquity: From early modern reconstruction drawings to digital 3D models: with a
case study from the ancient town of Koroneia, in Boeotia, Greece. Archaeopress Publishing Ltd.

• Piccoli, C., & Huurdeman, H. C. (2020, February). Visualizing 17th Century Amsterdam Interiors: Towards a Methodological Framework
for Creating and Publishing Annotated 3D Reconstructions. Sharing Practices - Archaeological 3D Visualisation in the Netherlands.
Archon Winter School Symposium, Amersfoort / Amsterdam. http://www.3dvisualisationpractices.nl/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/
Booklet-1.pdf

• Sullivan, E. A., & Snyder, L. M. (2017). Digital Karnak: An Experiment in Publication and Peer Review of Interactive, Three-Dimensional
Content. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 76(4), 464–482. https://doi.org/10.1525/jsah.2017.76.4.464

• Wood, Z., William, A., & Copeland, A. (2019). Virtual Reality for Preservation: Production of Virtual Reality Heritage Spaces in the
Classroom. In: 3D/VR in the Academic Library: Emerging Practices and Trends

Acknowledgments
• Materials in experimental prototype viewer:
• 3D models: Chiara Piccoli

• 3D paradata, data: Chiara Piccoli, Bart Reuvekamp

• 2D maps data: Weixuan Li

• Pictures
• Background images slide 2-7:

• Kraak et al, 2018; Papadopoulos & Schreibman, 2019, Gutiérrez et al.,
2007; Piccoli, 2018; Agugiaro et al., 2011 (details: previous slide)

• Iceberg image: Wikipedia Commons: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/
commons/a/ac/Iceberg.jpg

• Researcher icon: https://thenounproject.com/term/female-student/1050400/

• Project funding: NWO

Step inside the Image:   Interpretative Interfaces for  3D Historical Content

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Step inside the Image:   Interpretative Interfaces for  3D Historical Content

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