Reconstructing Dalton Mills: VR and AI in cultural preservation
A team comprising of Alex Neish, Gyanateet Dutta, Yuan Gao, and Simon Popple have been using the HELIX XR facilities to reconstruct Dalton Mills, an historic building in Keighley destroyed by fire in 2022. Using Deep Learning techniques, they replicated 3D scanning and photogrammetry processing, overcoming limited photographic data by generating an accurate 3D model with just ten photo stills.
In partnership with the Science Museum Group the project highlights how virtual experiencs can preserve and interpret cultural heritage. Historical accuracy is at the forefront of the Dalton Mills virtual reality experience, which includes voiceovers in a Yorkshire accent using Tencent’s Conqui AI software.
Users can interact with the environment, using hand tracking to move around the environment and grab objects. The team is now considering how AI impacts the integrity of the simulation and identifying ways to enhance the mill’s authenticity.
Location: XR Development Zone and Meeting Rooms
Aims: Exploring how Deep Learning techniques can be used to 3D model Dalton Mills for a VR experience in Unreal Engine.
Impact: The team created a historically accurate, immersive experience to demonstrate how AI software can be used ethically and with integrity to protect cultural heritage.
Gyanateet Dutta reflected on their experience working in HELIX...
How did working at HELIX help you achieve your aims?
"HELIX has the best resources when it comes to computational power with the high spec PCs and a team ready their expertise. I was constantly advised by the team at HELIX about the best possible ways to go about the project to give me the best outcome."
When working on your project, which aspects did you need to consider?
"This project pushed limits on using AI techniques for historical accuracy, as AI can be inaccurate, which meant that we needed to closely stick to the records. I had to balance out creative freedom when creating 3D objects with making them as historically accurate as possible with the records we have."
Have you received any feedback, and what did you learn from it?
"We have received a lot of positive feedback so far from people who have tried the experience. The key points from the feedback were that the experience could be made more accessible to people because so far it is only a PCVR experience and not standalone, meaning that it needs to be connected to a PC rather than the experience being fully uploaded onto a headset. People also expressed that they wanted increased accessibility in terms of how you control the experience. In the future, we need to consider ethical questions when it comes to teaching a younger audience about the building’s history, because they are a demographic that would be really interested in virtual experiences."
View a video demonstration of the experience!