Interactive Digital Display

Interactive Digital Display

Thursday, November 21, 2024 10:35 AM to 11:00 AM · 25 min. (Europe/London)
Space 3 (in-person only)
Interactive Digital Displays
Unpath'd Waters

Information

UNPATH Portal: The Unpath’d Waters Portal provides, for the first time, the ability to search a shared and cross-searchable online catalogue of marine historic environment data held by the four UK nations and the Isle of Man. Delegates can search by three parameters:

• ‘Where’ – Using the map viewer users can search geographically or use the filter menu to type in a specific place name.

• ‘When’ – By using the timeline, users can specify a specific year or search by a range of dates.

• ‘What’ – The word cloud search allows users to search by a specific term, such as ‘wrecks’. This terminology is a controlled vocabulary that is based on the Getty Conservation Institute Arts and Architecture Thesaurus.

UNPATH Navigator: The Navigator is a VR visualiser designed foremost for, and with, visually impaired people but usable by everyone. Through a VR headset and hand-held controller, it provides an immersive access to the range of marine and maritime collections which were assembled by the Unpath’d Waters project, allowing delegates to build their own searches and visualise the results. The Navigator demonstrates how it would be possible, with a fully national collection, for public audiences to compile and explore unique stories of our shared marine heritage.

UNPATH Doggerland Simulator: ‘Unpath’d Waters, Undream’d Shores’ is an interactive simulation of the now submerged lands under the North Sea. Between 20,000 and 5,000 years ago, a land known as Doggerland existed between what is now Britain and NW Europe. Here, traditional methods of archaeological exploration are either impractical or expensive, so researchers must apply creative solutions in order to find out more about this land and its inhabitants. The simulation is not only a research tool but represents the only way that both specialists and the general public can see the results of data collected within and around Doggerland.

UNPATH Seabed Sandpit: The 'sandpit' demonstration unit provides an interactive illustration on how a shipwreck structure influences its surrounding marine environment. Using an Xbox One 'Kinect' sensor to project a depth related colour scale onto an area of fine sand representing the seabed, delegates will be able to sculpt/mould a 'virtual' seabed surface surrounding a model wreck to replicate examples of actual wreck sites. With an accompanying slideshow and interactive quiz illustrating examples of shipwrecks at various orientations to tidal flows, the demonstration aims to provide experts and non-specialists with useful insights into the physical process that influence the morphology of shipwreck sites.

Unpath'D WatersUnpath'd Waters: Marine and Maritime Collections in the UK (October 2021 – November 2024) PI: Mr Barney Sloane, Historic England Co-Is: Universities of Ulster, York, Southampton. Portsmouth, Bangor, Bradford, St Andrews; Glasgow School of Art, Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England, National Oceanography Centre, Historic Environment Scotland, Museum of London Archaeology, Royal Museums Greenwich Partner organisations: Manx National Heritage, Marine Management Organisation, Northern Ireland Department of Communities, Cadw, Lloyd's, Lloyd’s Register Foundation, Protected Wrecks Association, RCAHMW, Maritime Archaeology Trust, Nautical Archaeology Society, Mary Rose Trust, Wessex Archaeology, UK Hydrographic Office. The UK Marine Area covers 867,400 km2, 3.5 times the terrestrial extent. Our marine heritage is extraordinary. Shipwrecks from the Bronze Age to the World Wars bear testimony to Britain as an island nation, a destination for trade and conquest and, in the past, the heart of a global empire. Coastal communities have been shaped by their maritime heritage with stories of loss and heroism. Deeper in time, what is now the North Sea was dry land, peopled by prehistoric communities. Our current land would have been distant uplands above hills and plains and rivers now lost and forgotten. Numerous collections represent this heritage, covering 23,000 years, including charts, documents, images, film, oral histories, sonar surveys, seismic data, bathymetry, archaeological investigations, artefacts, artworks and palaeo-environmental cores. These are unconnected and inaccessible. This matters because the story of our seas is of huge interest to the UK public, with millions visiting maritime museums annually, and marine exploitation increasing dramatically for energy, minerals, trade, food and leisure. To unlock new stories and effect sustainable management, we must join up our marine collections. Unpath’d Waters brings together universities, agencies, museums, trusts and experts to confront this challenge. AI is being applied to innovate searching across collections, simulations to visualise landscapes, and science to identify wrecks and research their artefacts. Unpath’d Waters will deliver management tools to protect our most significant heritage and invite the public to co-design new ways of interacting with the collections. The methods, code and resources created will be published openly so they can be used to shape the future of UK marine heritage.

Registered attendees

Julian Richards
Julian Richards
Professor of ArchaeologyUniversity of York

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