Virtual tour+AR Money Museum of Ukraine

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Virtual tour for the the Museum of Money of the National Bank of Ukraine with AR mode

In the new virtual tour for the NBU “Museum of Money”, we used 360 technologies, full 3D, WebXR, and browser-based augmented reality!

PLATFORM

Web

TECHNOLOGIES

Babylon.js, 360 pano, Krpano, 3D max, Blender, Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop

PROJECT DURATION

3 months

Many years ago, we already developed a virtual tour for the NBU “Museum of Money” in 2013. At that time, it was a unique product that was far ahead of its time. But the world is changing, technologies too ... The previous solution worked on the basis of Adobe Flash technology, which is no longer supported by browsers today. In addition, over the past time, new exhibits have appeared and some showcases have been updated. Therefore, together with the staff of the museum and USAID, it was decided to create a new modern product.

The virtual tour gives you the opportunity to take a walk through the museum, view the exhibits from all sides, and, with the help of voice accompanying in two languages, learn more about each museum showcase

The old version 2013 of our virtual tour for the Museum of Money of the National Bank of Ukraine you can watch out on this video

FEATURES OF THE NEW PROJECT

For the updated version of the virtual tour, we created a new interface and, in an experimental mode, introduced WebXR technology to display coins and exhibits in AR mode (augmented reality without installing an application). Some of the exhibits have been digitized and modeled in 3D. We also made a text description and voice accompanying the tour in 2 languages (Ukrainian and English).

The virtual tour consists of 2 parts: a virtual tour of the “Museum of Money” itself and the second part - a virtual tour of the NBU Operating room. We used 360 panoramas to move around the halls. Each showcase contains clickable exhibits, thanks to which visitors can familiarise themselves with the history of a particular object and even rotate it. In total, the museum displays more than 180 exhibits in 3D format and more than 40 showcases with voice-overs and descriptions

The entire project can be divided into four stages:

1. Shooting and material preparation
2. Postproduction and preparation of 3D models
3. Development, programming of the interface of the virtual tour, and implementing AR mode
4. Working with content

1. Shooting and material preparation

Shooting 360 panoramas did not present any technical difficulties, since it is a well-managed and, rather, simple process. Working with exhibits (coins, etc.) is an important and special project task since some coins and other objects have glared and are difficult to shoot, which requires a special lighting arrangement. Also, the peculiarity of some of the exhibits is that they cannot be taken out of the plastic case, as they can oxidize. Therefore, it is much more difficult to shoot them and it is necessary to carry out additional and thorough post-production

2. Postproduction and preparation of 3D models

The preparation of 3D models is a whole story about which we can write a separate article since there are many technical nuances and features which are connected with specific exhibits. In our work, we used a simplified technology for obtaining 3D models from photographic material, which requires minimal human resources. But it is worth saying that this technology does not work well with all exhibits, so we created some models by hand. Any project has its own limitations, including the budget. Unfortunately, we did not have the opportunity to devote enough time and resources to study each exhibit, i.e. there is still room for improvement in this matter;) But, despite this, we have definitely created a useful product!

3. Development, programming of the interface of the virtual tour, and implementing AR mode

This project is unique and required the creation of an interface from scratch. We used Babylon.js to develop the 3D module. We also decided to improve the functionality of the 3D module by adding AR mode. For this, we used the experimental WebXR technology which allows interacting with augmented reality in a web browser. In our case, it helps visitors to familiarise themselves with the museum objects in a more playful and realistic way, plunge deeper into historic time, and get a fully immersive experience

4. Working with content

Working with content is a very important part of a project that requires a lot of resources and special attention from the developers. This is due to the fact that the data from the customer's side is not always up-to-date and often requires verification and revision. We revised the texts provided by the customer, made the professional voice acting in two languages, added previously prepared 360 materials to the virtual tour and photo showcases, introduced 3D models of exhibits

RESULT

As a result, we received a modern product in the form of a virtual tour for the “Museum of Money”, using which guests can examine in detail the exhibits of the museum, rotate and view them from all sides as long as they want and at any time, walking with any speed and stopping near eyes-catching exhibits. Moreover, augmented reality (WebAR) allows to join a new technological era and see different types of money physically here and now.

In the post-covid time, this is more than ever an actual and demanded solution that can be used for almost any field where there is needed to show something physically: museum, hotel, restaurant, or real estate object. The relatively low human resources and time costs of creating tour, flexibility, and photorealism make a virtual walk an ideal solution for many areas of business

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