Guest lecture, Museums in Context course (EUR), 24/02/21

1. @timelessfuture Hugo Huurdeman University of Amsterdam postdoc, Virtual Interiors project
Experiential Interfaces:
3D reconstructions as entry
points for exploration & analysis
Guest Lecture, Museums In Context course, Erasmus University Rotterdam (24/02/21)

2. Who am I?
• Hugo (@timelessfuture)
• Background in Human-Computer
Interaction (Multimedia & Culture),
Information Science
• Interest in art & technology
as a means for creative expression
• postdoctoral researcher in Virtual
Interiors

3. Weixuan Li, PhD researcher
Centers of Creativity in Amsterdam of the Dutch Golden Age
Chiara Piccoli, post-doc
Research & 3D visualization of 17th century Amsterdam interiors
Hugo Huurdeman, post-doc
Immersive 3D Interfaces & multilayered maps, user research
Bart Reuvekamp, Junior Researcher
Archival research
Applicants: Charles van den Heuvel, Julia Noordegraaf, Gabri van Tussenbroek
Virtual Interiors: Imagine an
partneres
funding:

4. project: Virtual Interiors
“as Interfaces for Big Historical Data”
• Virtual buildings & interiors
• Reconstructed based on research & historical sources
• Serve as entry point for exploring & researching historical data
• Access:
• Via an online research environment → researchers
• “Virtual Research Environment” (VRE)
• Via Virtual & Augmented Reality → researchers & ‘casual’ users

5. Today’s topics:
1. Visualizing 17th century Amsterdam interiors
2. “Radio from the Past” (Netherlands Inst. for Sound & Vision)
3. Dynamic Drawings as enhanced publications (Brill Publishers)
(discussed if time allows)

6. 1. Visualizing 17th Century Amsterdam Interiors

7. 1.1 Visualizing 17th Century Amsterdam Interiors
Case study: Herengracht 573 [see Piccoli, 2021]
• Investigation of “domestic consumption of cultural industries in
the house of Pieter de Graeff (1638-1707) and Jacoba Bicker
(1640-95), at Herengracht 573”
Portraits of Pieter de Graeff and Jacoba Bicker,
Caspar Netscher, 1663. Rijksmuseum.
Drawing by Caspar Philips,
ca. 1770
House, current state
Slide: C. Piccoli

8. 1.1 Visualizing 17th Century Amsterdam Interiors
Case study: Herengracht 573 [see Piccoli, 2021]
• Variety of available sources
• probate inventory (1707)
→ derive house plan, fixed
elements
• Pieter de Graeff’s diary
(1664-1706; 1700 missing)
→ social network
• book catalog
→ his book
collection
Slide: C. Piccoli

9. 1.1 Visualizing 17th Century Amsterdam Interiors
‘Het Voorhuys’ (Entrance hall)
C. Piccoli (forthcoming). ‘Home-making in 17th century Amsterdam: A 3D reconstruction to investigate visual cues
in the entrance hall of Pieter de Graeff (1638-1707)’,
in G. Landeschi and E. Betts (eds.), Capturing the senses: digital methods for sensory archaeologies, Springer.
Slide: C. Piccoli

10. 1.1 Visualizing 17th Century Amsterdam Interiors
‘Het Voorhuys’ (Entrance hall)
Shedding light on the visual hierarchy of objects and furniture in the
room by translating the written description into a visual representation
Slide: C. Piccoli
Probate inventory

11. 3D visualization Voorhuys Pieter de Graeff (Chiara Piccoli)
Towards a virtual research
environment

12. Other datasets
& vocabularies
Contextual
Database
3D scenes &
3D models
Enhanced transcriptions
(catalog, inventory, diary)
Documents and data
sources (primary,
secondary)
3D web application
prototype (babylonJS)

13. 3D User Interface
All the assumptions & data
that went behind it
modeling decisions,
uncertainty, underlying data
Challenge: How can we make the “hidden” part more visible?

14. VRE prototype (Dec 2020)
“analytical view”

15. VR display
“experiential” view

16. 1.2 Visualizing interiors: latest progress
Integration of Linked Data
Quelli-
nus
created by
Rijks-
museum
view other works
by Quellinus
view similar works
in the Rijksmuseum
exhibited in
…
Pieter de
Graeff
Portrait of
Jacoba
Bicker
Portrayed in
Married to
…
…
Jacoba
Bicker
Portraits
in marble
Oak Table with
marble top
Heren-
gracht
573

17. 1.2 Visualizing interiors: latest progress
Integration of Linked Data
work in progress

18. 1.2 Visualizing interiors: latest progress
Immersive interfaces
work in progress

19. 2. Visualizing a radio from the past

20. • Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision:
• Large collection of historical media-related objects
• e.g. radios and televisions
• Often in depot, not visible to public
• If displayed → behind glass
• limited clarity about how device works
• Exploratory project: alternate presentation
approaches using 3D technology
2. Visualizing a radio from the past
Wikimedia:Husky

21. 2. Visualizing radio
• Idzerda collectie (Arts & Culture)
• Dutch radio pioneer
• first radio broadcaster /
presenter (1919)
• Chosen radio:
• Marine B (1919)
• Modeled in 3D by Tijdlab

22. Contextual
Database
3D scenes &
3D models
3D web application
prototype (babylonJS)
3D scenes &
3D models

23. Video 1 (part)
• Explore contextual information (text/images/videos)
• Analytical overviews
• View from different perspectives
• Follow guided tours

24. Video 1 (part)
• Explore contextual information (text/images/videos)
• Analytical overviews
• View from different perspectives
• Follow guided tours

25. Video 2
• Deconstruct/Reconstruct/Reassemble
• Play with perspectives
• Integrate contextual documentation within environment

26. Video 2
• Deconstruct/Reconstruct/Reassemble
• Play with perspectives
• Integrate contextual documentation within environment

27. Video 2
• Deconstruct/Reconstruct/Reassemble
• Play with perspectives
• Integrate contextual documentation within environment

28. Play with different modalities
visual senses
tactile senses
auditory senses
visual senses
tactile senses
visual senses

29. 3. Conclusion & Discussion
• 3D reconstructions
• as entry points to contextual and “linked” data
• Two cases from Virtual Interiors:
• 17th c. Amsterdam interiors: Pieter de Graeff & Jacoba Bicker
• Idzerda’s Marine B radio
• Creating “analytical” & “experiential” 3D applications
• for different modalities (PC, VR, mobile)

30. Important: evaluation.
Via user studies (see also: Huurdeman & Piccoli, 2020)

31. Important: evaluation.
Via user studies (see also: Huurdeman & Piccoli, 2020)
User studies: Spring ’21
SIGN UP here: bit.ly/3d-study
Interested to try out our prototype 3D user interfaces?

32. 3. Conclusion & Discussion
Connections to museums
• Interactive 3D experiences can be
worthwhile for research, educational
and professional use, but also for
engaging broader audiences
• Virtual Reality and Augmented
reality:
• e.g., experience a museum, its
works, or works from different
collections “at home”
• or even the original
environment of museum
objects (Pieter de Graeff &
Jacoba Bicker)

33. See also:
virtualinteriorsproject.nl
timemachine.eu
amsterdamtimemachine.nl

34. 3D Radio (embedded research at Sound and Vision)
bit.ly/radio-3d

35. Some other mentions in Q/A:
• Economics / funding
• Commissioned app displaying Kremer collection in VR → https://
news.artnet.com/art-world/rembrandt-dutch-masters-virtual-reality-1132646
• app for VR headset
• Education
• XR in academia: https://xrera.eu/
• “Embodiment”
• CineDans, CineDans VR Lab (cinedans.nl; https://beamlab.nl/projects/
cindeans-vr-beamlab/)
• University of Oslo MusicLab

36. References
• C. Piccoli (forthcoming). ‘Home-making in 17th century Amsterdam: A 3D reconstruction to
investigate visual cues in the entrance hall of Pieter de Graeff (1638-1707)’,
in G. Landeschi and E. Betts (eds.), Capturing the senses: digital methods for sensory
archaeologies, Springer.
• H. Huurdeman. Blogpost: “Visualizing a radio of the past using technology of the future Radio”:
https://www.beeldengeluid.nl/en/knowledge/blog/visualizing-radio-past-using-technology-future
• H. Huurdeman, and C. Piccoli (forthcoming). 3D reconstructions as research hubs: Geospatial
interfaces for real-time data exploration of 17th century Amsterdam domestic interiors. Accepted
(published in 2021).
• H. Huurdeman, C. Piccoli & L. van Wissen (forthcoming). Linked Data in a 3D context:
Experiential Interfaces for Exploring the Interconnections of 17th Century Historical Data. To be
published in 2021.
• H. Huurdeman, & C. Piccoli (2020). “More than just a Picture” -- The Importance of Context in
Search User Interfaces for Three-Dimensional Content. Proceedings of the 2020 Conference on
Human Information Interaction and Retrieval, 338–342. https://doi.org/10.1145/3343413.3377994

37. Image credits
• VR icon (CC-BY):
• by Chameleon Design, IN; https://thenounproject.com/term/oculus-rift/324987/
• Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision building (CC-BY):
• by Husky; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands_Institute_for_Sound_and_Vision
• Iceberg (CC-BY-SA):
• By Uwe Kils; Wiska Bodo; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Iceberg.jpg
• Pictures Sound & Vision depot: Hugo Huurdeman (Virtual Interiors)
• 3D models:
• Herengracht 573: Chiara Piccoli (Virtual Interiors);
• Marine B radio: tijdlab.nl
• Screenshots / videos of prototypes integrating 3D models: Hugo Huurdeman (Virtual Interiors)
• Scans, paintings: Stadsarchief Amsterdam, Brill Publishers, Rijksmuseum

38. @timelessfuture Hugo Huurdeman University of Amsterdam postdoc, Virtual Interiors project
Experiential Interfaces:
3D reconstructions as entry
points for exploration & analysis
SIGN UP here: bit.ly/3d-study RADIO demo: bit.ly/radio-3d