IT and Museums: Museum of Oriental Art to go online

The State Museum of Oriental Art (Moscow) is one of the largest museums in Russia. Pursuing the objective to support public interest in oriental culture and history, the museum’s Board has made a decision to launch “Virtual Interactive 3D Oriental Museum” – a new project in Russia, which is called to revive public interest in museums and exhibitions.

All artworks of “Virtual Interactive 3D Oriental Museum” have been already captured. The project itself is backed by “NVision Group”. Launch of online interactive 3D exposition and the project’s presentation at the State Museum of Oriental Art are scheduled for January 2012.

“Virtual Interactive 3D Oriental Museum” project will run two versions: online – interactive website with an access to unique content, and its counterpart – an offline version, recorded on a DVD, to be available in museum’s multimedia booths. An opportunity to edit the content will ensure regular data update and contribute to a live fascinating electronic resource with a focus on the culture of the East.

This interactive multimedia project brings together several complex technologies: latest 3D technology with an opportunity to stroll across virtual 3D museum halls and also multimedia opportunities of interactive reference system. The project is carried out by Navigator4D, a developer of a unique technology for building interactive virtual 3D spaces.

The project’s preparatory stage, which took four months to complete, covered creation of photo and video of the museum’s exteriors and interiors, all thematic halls, showcases and exhibits. Some of the museum’s major exhibits are undergoing 3D detailed elaboration, the process which involves a special scanner. As a result of a special photography the rest of exhibits will also have their 3D counterparts. At present the developers are preparing detailed 3D images of exhibits along with development of the online resource.