 NEWS UPDATE (02/09/99) - New page online featuring housing models
in Metastream format - Click here to
view the models.
Welcome to the Shared Architecture page, part of 360 Days in ActiveWorlds and the Designing Better Cities project. The project
is funded under the Public Understanding of Science scheme by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
Shared Architecture provides a unique opportunity for users of
360 Days in ActiveWorlds to place their real world house or favourite building in the
virtual world. By sending in photographs we will create fully textured
three dimensional models within the virtual environment. This will create a unique insight
into not only the locations and environment where our community live and work in the real
world but also an opportunity to view various architectural styles from around the world
within the virtual space.
The process is simple, but there are a few guidelines to taking the
pictures:
Illustrated below are examples of photographs
taken to construct a three dimensional model of a house. The guidelines for taking the
photographs are:
- Ensure that at least one photograph has 3 corners of the building in
view. We use the corners to determine the dimensions of the model.
- Take as many different views of the building as you can, we recommend
between 3 and 6 photographs.
- Avoid photographs with cars, people or trees in the view as these can
complicate the texturing process. If a tree is in view, as in this example, make sure you
have a frontage photograph which is clear of obstructions.
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Once the building is modelled it will be placed at Ground Zero in CVDS
(the world running 360 Days in Activeworlds) ready for you to use. Each week a showcase
building will be given pride of place at Ground Zero.  The final model of
the house constructed from the photographs above is shown left.
Each model will also be provided, via this page, in both VRML and Metastream format. We
recommend that you use the Cosmo Player to view the VRML models. Details on Metastream are
available from our Gallery.You can
download Cosmo for both Mac and PC from here. Once you have the
player installed click on the image below to load the VRML file. A series of view points
are provided and a tour of the scene. To start the tour click the model in the scene while
in the 'Tour' viewpoint.
House VRML
File
You can send you send us your photographs of either your house or favourite building in
a couple of ways:
Andrew Smith,
Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis,
1-19 Torrington Place,
Gower Street,
University College London,
London
WC1E 6BT
United Kingdom
We look forward to receiving your photographs and sharing your favourite building or
house in the virtual world.
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Please feel free to email us any Questions or
Comments |
