View Proposal

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Proposer

Umar Farooq

Title

Digital Preservation of Kazakh Cultural Heritage using an Immersive Virtual World Environment

Goal

Description

Kazakhstan has a rich cultural and historical heritage that includes ancient cities, traditional architecture, customs, crafts and lifestyles. Some elements of this heritage are gradually disappearing, becoming physically inaccessible or receiving limited engagement from younger generations. Digital technologies and virtual worlds provide an opportunity to preserve, reconstruct and make such heritage accessible with the help of interactive and immersive experiences. This project aims to investigate and develop a virtual world representation of a selected component of Kazakh cultural heritage that is at risk of diminishing, being forgotten or becoming inaccessible. It demonstrates how virtual worlds can provide a sustainable and accessible approach to the digital preservation, education, exploration and revival of Kazakhstan's diminishing cultural heritage while creating opportunities for younger generations and international audience to experience and understand different aspects of Kazakh history and cultural heritage. It explores the cultural and historical heritage and identifies a suitable aspect for digital reconstruction based on its cultural significance, historical value, availability of information and the feasibility of virtual representation. The selected subject might be an ancient or historical city, architectural environment, traditional way of life, cultural practice, craft or any other significant aspect of Kazakhstan's heritage. This project will design an interactive virtual world environment and implement it using an appropriate tool. The developed digital space will allow users to explore, interact with and learn about the historical and cultural context. It explores and applies the most effective technologies for 3D modeling, virtual world development, interactive storytelling, multimedia content, avatars, navigation (with a particular emphasis on non-traditional ways such as flying and teleporting) and immersive user experiences. The project will evaluate the effectiveness of the resulting virtual environment in representing the selected heritage, communicating its cultural and historical significance and providing an engaging experience for users.

Resources

Background

Url

Difficulty Level

Moderate

Ethical Approval

None

Number Of Students

2

Supervisor

Umar Farooq

Keywords

cultural heritage, digital preservation, 3d modeling, virtual worlds, immersion, navigation

Degrees

Bachelor of Science in Computational Sciences and Software Engineering