Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities

Spherical Photography and Cultural Heritage Sites

Visiting Fellows Michael and Barry Gross presented their work using QuickTime VR (QTVR) to document architecturally and historically important sites in Europe and the US. Michael is the Technical Director of the Williams College Virtual Architecture Project. Barry co-produces virtual reality models of historical architectural monuments in Europe and United States for the Art History Department at Williams College and is currently producing work portraying Islamic architecture to be published by Saudi Aramco World Magazine. Over the past four years they have been producing panoramic images that allow the viewer to move throughout a building or site with full 360 by 360 degree views. When connected to an interactive floor plan and other media, QTVR can provide a much greater sense of space, movement, and sound in culturally significant sites than can traditional (including digital) photography.

They are currently collaborating with IATH and UCLA on various projects, including the digital documentation of the Roman Forum in Rome, Italy and the St. Gallen plan and models in St. Gallen and Zurich, Switzerland.

Michael Gross has served as ongoing Technical Director of the Williams College Virtual Architecture Project since its inception in 2002 (then a senior at Williams), under the direction of Professor Eugene J. Johnson, Class of 1955 Memorial Professor of Art. He has recently resented his work at Texas A&M University (Fall 2005). Spring 2006 Michael will be a Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities at the University of Virginia under the direction of Professor Bernard Frischer, where he will serve as Project Coordinator on the authoring of a "Best Practices Guide" for the creation of QuickTime Virtual Reality documentation of World Cultural Heritage Sites, commissioned by ARTStor. [See more of their work]

Barry Gross has four years experience co-producing "Virtual Reality" (VR) models of historical architectural monuments in Europe and United States for the Art History Department at Williams College under the direction of Professor Eugene J. Johnson, Class of 1955 Memorial Professor of Art. He has collectively spent a year in the field on assignment as a professional photographer, audio recorder, and digital archivist. He is currently collaborating with Dr. Bernard Frischer, Director of the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities (IATH) at the University of Virginia, and with UCLA, on various projects, including the digital documentation of the Roman Forum in Rome, Italy and the St. Gallen plan and models in St. Gallen and Zurich, Switzerland. He is due to be an IATH Visiting/External Fellow in the spring of 2006. [See more of their work]

Photos from the demonstration:

Barry Gross navigates as Michael Gross discusses the importance of documenting architecturally and historically important sites in Europe and the US.

Barry Gross and Will Rourke, Clemons Digital Media (UVA), talk about the techniques used in QTVR to document historical sites.