ZHUJIAJIAO: PRESERVING THE PAST IN TERMS OF THE PRESENT

As technology progresses, how we perceive, recognize, and understand the world will greatly change. Although reality has been grounded in humanity’s acknowledgement of the five main senses, touching, smelling, hearing, seeing, and tasting, because of technology, what is “real” can now be defined metaphysically. With such a burgeoning field of computer graphics technology, the common individual soon can obtain more from their environment than what was once believed. Although simplistic in some popularized regards, the idea of using technology to create environments, or virtual realities, comes with applications that many overlook.

Virtual Reality

Although virtual reality is often seen as a form of entertainment, most popularized by video games, the 3D computer graphics and narratives utilized in video games are now analyzed as new platforms for research in fields such as archaeology (Morgan 2016). As a means to progress the way information is shared and presented to the public, archeologists have looked into virtual reality in video games to recreate landscapes and objects in order to aid physical investigations. The ability to create simulations, assume roles of different individuals, and take on a variety of perceptions in a given environment provide users new perspectives on how to approach recreating and presenting the past.

Although the creation of a virtual environment has progressed significantly within the 21st century, virtual environment’s myopic understanding and thus acceptance has been widely declined . While the industrial and mass utilization of computer graphics comes with limits in terms of cost-benefit efficiency and ease of usage (Bricken 1991), virtual reality has the potential to revolutionize our current approach towards daily perception, education, and preservation. As delineated by Meredith Bricken (1991), virtual reality introduces us to the world an unexplored facet of obtaining information, taking away what has long thought to be impossible and instead providing a revolutionized “hands-on experience.” As humans, we also are not devoid of certain senses through virtual reality as such a tool provides a multi-sensory experience for all types of learners. We can take on multiple roles and resulting perceptions that lead to an overall more wholesome learning experience: understanding and observing reality in places, persons, and actions that otherwise would be nonexistent.

While Bricken justifies virtual reality as promising tool for education, she addresses topics of concern for the everyday cynic. Although not necessarily a critique of virtual reality, the mass implementation of computer graphics in classrooms and museums is a hindrance due to its costs and usability. Nevertheless, the downsides to virtual reality should also be considered. As discussed by Erik Champion (2011), Playing with the Past, virtual realities are often hindered by their lack of context in the surroundings for the perceivers. Virtual realities are known to lack the ability to capture culture and alternative perspectives. Although the majority of virtual reality scholars, including Bricken, critiques technological development in terms of its complexity and ability to parallel reality, Champion analyzes what virtual reality metaphysically is missing now: meaningful content. Virtual reality does not provide the idealized spatial presence that most laud computer graphics for, including Bricken. Virtual environments can model the surroundings and architecture as closely as technology now allows; however, there is always the feeling of “hollowness”: the idea that the 3D models stand with no purpose or context. Sensory representation does not equate to meaning and interactions, especially if such a representation neglects individualism. Ideally, virtual reality epitomizes how efficiently and effectively information can be translated to the widespread public; however, in addition to its complexity programming and usage, virtual reality is inhibited by the creators themselves. The focus now is on the graphics, not the interactions, environment, and people.

In our project, my partner, Kristin Chow, and I decided to 3D model the historic river town Zhujiajiao, located in modern-day Shanghai. Using Maya Autodesk, Motion Capture, Motion Builder, and eventually Unity, we strived to recreate this river town in the context of how the town appeared and felt during the Qing Dynasty. Because of the size and complexity of Zhujiajiao, we decided to focus specifically on the Lang Bridge, surrounding buildings, and traditional boats. Kristin used Maya Autodesk to model the Lang Bridge and nearby houses and shops. Meanwhile, I used Maya Autodesk to model a boat inspired from the Qing Dynasty as well as wore the Motion Capture suit to include walking, running, painting, and rowing human models in our final project. Through this model, we hoped to defy traditional virtual realities as told by Champion and model the town in the context of the culture and past inhabitants. By capturing Zhujiajiao’s culture during the Qing Dynasty, we wanted to present an alternative way of preserving and teaching about this historic town as modern renovations overshadow its history.

By modeling Zhujiajiao with the purpose of introducing and thus preserving the town’s culture, people, and interactions, our model stands in stark contrast to Champion’s critique. What Champion quintessentially argues for is a story behind the visuals. We hoped to use this argument to fuel our aims for the final project and produce a historic rendition of Zhujiajiao that can as closely model the town’s original appearance while at the same time provide the beginnings of a cultural context. Zhujiajiao is already known to be a popular tourist attraction. While the goal as a historic site is to preserve its architecture, such an aim is only being met halfway with additions such as shopping centers, hotels, and novelty workshops (“Zhujiajiao to Undergo Renovations”). In addition, Zhujiajiao’s preservation, similar to many traditional preservations, is reminiscent of the flaws of today’s virtual environments. The emphasis is on preserving the traditional buildings, water systems, and architectural styles, not the culture (Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Planning and Land Resources). Still, because Zhujiajiao has attracted a wide variety of audiences and become a tourist mainstay, there are benefits to the modifications that have led to worldwide education of this town to Chinese denizens and international tourists. There will always be advancements towards enhancing the past: a theme of humanity that goes beyond just historic preservation. Through our project, we do not want detract from Zhujiajiao’s current preservation and renovations that add to the town’s history in the making, but instead want to create a tool that can be an addition to what is told of the water village now. We want to provide for visitors a model of the town as it stood in the past along with the interactions and activity that bring the town to life: express the candid beauty in Zhujiajiao unglorified by today’s attractions and show that virtual reality not only is a powerful means of edification, but also a method of encapsulating reality aesthetically and meaningfully.

Zhujiajiao River Town

Zhujiajiao is a historic river town that stands to the west of Dianshan Lake and along the front of the southern Yangtze River region in modern-day Shanghai (Figure 1 and 2). The Caogang Creek is the body of water that runs through Zhujiajiao. From archaeological records, Zhujiajiao was first settled primitively in 1700 years ago, further established as a fishing hub in the Song Dynasty, from 960 to 1279 C.E., and the Yuan Dynasty, from 1271-1368 C.E. (Zhujiajiao Water Village). Although Zhujiajiao is known for being a fishing village, the town during the Ming and Qing dynasty provided many trades and housing for hospice. As displayed in the Shanghai Ancient Culture Exhibition Hall and Paddy Habitude Exhibition Hall (Figures 3-5), Zhujiajiao’s daily culture included rice farming, fishing, and worship (Zhujiajiao Shanghai).

Moreover, according to Zhujiajiao Shanghai, the town’s prominent standing architecture, such as the bridges seen today, was first constructed during the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty, between 1368 and 1911. Many of the bridges, such as the Fangsheng and Tai’an Bridge, were constructed respectively in 1571 and 1584 with the choice medium of stone. As boats were the main method of transportation, many landing-places line the river banks to serve as docks and stations to anchor and trade. Zhujiajiao’s buildings are notable for the generally two-floor limit and curved tiled, roof ridges, contributing to the town’s water-attic-style houses. Although modernized, Zhujiajiao is recognized today for the majorly black and white buildings. Additionally, while the architectural style in Zhujiajiao is highly reflective of the Ming and Qing Dynasty, the houses were constructed and placed with the structural integrity of protecting buildings from fire and intrusion.

While Zhujiajiao’s main structures have been highly preserved for visitors today, the cultural details, most significantly the water travel and boats, of the town have been replaced to accommodate for tourism. Historic photos and relics of Zhujiajiao are now presented to the public in the exhibits of the Shanghai Ancient Culture Exhibition Hall and Zhujiajiao’s conjoined Museum of Humanities and Arts. Despite being a town where fishermen utilized utilizing rafts and canoes, Zhujiajiao is contemporarily populated by water taxis, adorned with a canopy, lanterns, and railings for tourists.

For many years, Zhujiajiao, like many regions and cities in China, was renovated to assimilate with the urbanization of China. In recent years, many historic towns of China suffered from the trend of moving to big cities. China’s success in social, economic, and environmental enterprises had led to the depopulation of many regions, leading to lost cultures in many cases (Ma 2010). Such an abrupt movement of people in search of “better lifestyles” also opened up an opportunity for tourism ventures, renovating historic towns with similar constructions. With Zhujiajiao included in the many disregarded towns, professional preservationists have led to the town being considered as World Heritage site by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization. Nevertheless, unlike historic towns such as Pingyao, Zhujiajiao was never officiated as World Heritage site. Although some limits to development exist, preservationists faced the dilemma of defining what to preserve and protect. With a focus particularly on what is considered as “town landscape,” Ma references Kevin Lynch’s approach of partitioning a town into “paths,” “edges,” “nodes,” “districts,” and “landmarks” (Ma 2010). Although preservation theoretically should be in accordance to relevancy, significance, and structural integrity, for a country with such a rich and lengthy history like China, efforts to preserve, protect, and conserve are not thoroughly delineated by the government. For China, historic town preservation meant both the town landscape and the cultural landscape, with particular emphasis on spatial features, buffer zones, and sustainability.

What now remains of Zhujiajiao is given more context and authority (Ma 2010). As most historical standing structures were built during the 1900s, Zhujiajiao’s buildings mainly consist of religious, residential, commercial, and public structures (Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Planning and Land Resources 2010). When considering the preservation of the water village, most attention was paid to large structures such as the bridges as well as spatial organization and water systems, the “town landscape” of Zhujiajiao. Consideration to the ecological conservation and structural integrity of certain structures was also important as preservationists had to consider the air and water pollution for local residents and visitors. In a study on environmental management in Zhujiajiao, a questionnaire and analysis on implementation plans were given to Zhujiajiao residents (Che, Li, Shang, Liu, Kang 2014). According to this study, Zhujiajiao’s resources, particularly the town’s water systems, was to be restored to the “town’s scenic and environmental values.” Residents were to answer a survey about three attributes of Zhujiajiao’s water system: stream morphology, water quality, and riverfront condition. Each attribute was further defined by their current state and three levels of ideal improvement. Through this study and encompassed questionnaire, preservationists and river managers were thus able to conclude that residents preferred to restored waterfront conditions and improve water quality (Che, Li, Shang, Liu, Kang 2014). Nevertheless, this study highlighted an overlooked aspect of preservation: the incorporation of residents and their rights. Whether people are trying to renovate or preserve Zhujiajiao, the traditional culture and customs of the site are forgotten or ignored.

As certain points of interest had been marked to be protected, there was a great focus on highlighting the pattern of the town: the layout of the streets in relation to the buildings and river. The idea of creating connections between streets in Zhujiajiao through the preservation of the town’s traditional architecture exemplifies a proposal of Chinese architectural preservation by Renee Y. Chow: “field urbanism” (Chow 2015). Field urbanism is defined as renovation with the goal of characterizing each element (structure) in relation to other elements and the surrounding open space, maintaining a structure’s individual identity as well as the site’s overall cohesion.As claimed by Chow, China has followed the concept of “green-field” urbanism, in which traditional structures are being entirely scrapped for newly designed plans. Chow notes that in addition to the loss of spatial arrangements and building designs, the entire familiar, traditional and cultural “fabric” of Chinese architecture has disappeared. Referencing Zhujiajiao as one of the remaining “‘traditional’ built fields,” Chow argues that newly introduced buildings are stand-alone structures, flashy and prominent, but devoid of culture and cohesion (Chow 2015). Nevertheless, preservationists have avoided such a result when preserving Zhujiajiao. In addition to being mindful of the town’s layout, to combat the burgeoning modernization, preservationists have restricted development projects in real estate and tourism. Modern renovations are approved in order of importance with particular avoidance of prioritized district areas such as around the Fangsheng Bridge (Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Planning and Land Resources 2010). In many case-study projects, Ma recorded issues with dealing with visitors. Disrupting the “local culture and ecological balance” of the historic towns, visitors have to acknowledge their impact on historic sites.

Because of consistent preservation and renovation throughout the years, Zhujiajiao was a challenging historic town to model. Preserving China’s historic sites has been a challenge due to China’s expansive and complex history. While an abundance of information exists of Zhujiajiao and Chinese historic river towns, we found that many resources were not available to scholars or the public. Moreover, access to the Chinese database and library CNKI, of case studies, research, and dissertations, requires payment of a fee. As a result, we reverted to what sources were readily available for our use: eyewitness accounts, travel blogs, tourist websites, government reports, scholarly critiques and discourse, period paintings, and period-architecture books.

Zhujiajiao town is too large and complex to model in our project. Thus, we decided to focus our modeling the Lang (Huimin) Bridge, the only remaining wooden bridge, the buildings immediately surrounding the bridge, boats, and a section of the river. Although the Fangsheng Bridge is the most iconic bridge based on both scholarly and common-day sources, we chose the Lang Bridge because of its construction material wood. Zhujiajiao architecture is predominantly stone and brick architecture. As one of the objectives of this project is to bring to light the significance of Zhujiajiao, we wanted to bring to light characteristics of Zhujiajiao that are less mentioned. Because the Lang Bridge is the only wooden bridge amongst many stone and brick bridges, visitors or possible future viewers of our model are impelled to question this change in construction material. Our research and modeling are introduced to visitors or viewers to spark questions of Zhujiajiao’s past that are otherwise not asked from seeing only the preserved architecture and reconstructions. Moreover, we decided to model a typical bridge instead of a temple or other famous building because I believe the bridges are what visually attract tourists. When first searching for ideas for the final project, the beauty and nearby buildings of the bridge is what compelled me to select Zhujiajiao. In addition to the Lang Bridge, we planned on constructing many of the traditionally tiled buildings held up by wooden stakes that lined the river banks to create a sense of lived space and wholeness to our modeling. While the buildings and houses are integral to Zhujiajiao as a historic town, we decided to concentrate majorly on the bridge as a focal point and structure, due to the limited time and skill set. In order to “people” Zhujiajiao’s past beyond the architecture, we modelled a boat and used Motion Capture to record and animate rowing movements. The boats are particularly significant as Zhujiajiao was originally a major hub for fishing and water transportation before even the Ming and Qing Dynasty. In contrast to such a history, the boats seen today are mostly used for tourist-purposes, heavily adorned with Chinese decorations such as lanterns and passenger seats.

When delegating responsibility for the 3D model, we decided that Kristin would model the Lang Bridge and surrounding built environments such as the houses, walkways, streets, and stairs (Figures 6 and 7). Meanwhile, I would model a typical boat of Zhujiajiao, with the intention on duplicating the model to populate the river in watercraft and movement. As the boats were easier to design, I also used Motion Capture to record walking, running, painting, and rowing and will eventually be using Motion Builder to animate the human models.

Modeling the Boat

The boat was modeled on the most common, modern boats used today and of boats depicted in drawings from the Qing Dynasty. The boats used to give tours and by the police of the town today are not an accurate reflections of the boats used in the 1600-1900s (Figures 8-10). Nevertheless, because Zhujiajiao is known for its “preservation” of architecture, I decided that completely neglecting the boat design today would ignore some of the details that were not otherwise not drawn. Additionally, I used Qing Dynasty boats and canoes as main sources of inspiration. I wanted the boat to have a concrete basic form that I could then modify and replicated if needed. While spanning the Song and Yuan Dynasties, most of the currently standing historical architecture of Zhujiajiao dates back to the early 1900s, with certain bridges, temples, and shops constructed during the Ming and Qing Dynasties (Shanghai Municipal Planning of Land and Resources 2010). Our priority was to provide a grounded and accurate representation of Zhujiajiao during its main years of construction. Though the Ming Dynasty would have been an equally valid period for us to model Zhujiajiao from, the decision to use resources from the Qing Dynasty ultimately came from the sources that were available to us.

While doing research, I found how boats were depicted during the Qing Dynasty (1644 to 1911). The drawings and photos of boats range from simplistic, calligraphic paintings to low-resolution, black and white photographs. By researching art galleries, I found three calligraphic renditions that demonstrated the observed-style of boats from the period (Figures 10-13). The boats drawn were basic, primitive canoes. Though such paintings do not seem particularly beneficial, the canoe-raft-like structures suggested that the boats used today were to a degree not authentic. These renditions aligned with the fact that Zhujiajiao was originally a fishing town. After seeing 3D models of baskets and tools from the Bolivian Amazon created by our classmates, I remembered seeing an exhibit display of the early fishermen’s tools that were almost identical in shape to the baskets and spears of the other culture (Figure 5). In addition, we were able to find imagery of boats throughout the Qing Dynasty period. For example, the image of a sketchy, almost interpretive but slightly detailed bridge stands above a trail of single-shaped, plain canoes (Figure 14). An aged photograph of a boat passing by the canal ways of a river town alley reflect Zhujiajiao’s own housing that borders the river walkways is also captured (Figure 15). Despite such images, the resources and resulting inspiration is not exact. However, a certain degree of inaccuracy, uncertainty, and inference is inevitable of reconstructing the past and a struggle that many preservationists face. At the end of this project, though our 3D model may not be the most accurate and may not achieve all objectives we had set, we will have embarked in the right direction in introducing our interpretation of the context of Zhujiajiao.

For the 3D modeling, I used Maya Autodesk as my platform of choice. Starting off with a rectangular prism, I shrunk the front and back ends to create slight indents (Figure 17). Because the ends are elevated in comparison to the mid-section, I rotated both ends of the prism to model a degree of curvature (Figure 18). With the basal, exterior shape of the boat finished, I began extruding the mid-section where someone would sit (Figure 19). Because the indentation and seating of the canoes in paintings are not shown, I extruded the seats and indentation in our boat off of modern Zhujiajiao boats. Though not identical to the model, the contemporary Zhujiajiao boats provide a basis to the interior. The pole-like structures that protrude from the front of the boat were based off of Figure 15, 16, and modern-day Zhujiajiao boats (Figure 20). The placement of such details was all accomplished through edge loops. For the final touches, I used the sculpting tool “smooth” to redefine some edges. A UV texture still needs to be applied to the boat.

Overall, the boat modeling was relatively difficult for the complexity of the 3D model. The entire process was approximately 4 hours. The length of the process is most likely due to my lack of experience with Maya as well as the fact that I worked on half of the boat on my laptop without a mouse. Many times, I attempted to use untaught tools by watching online tutorials; however, I found that this often led me to mode and application errors. In addition, although I do not have photographic documentation, the most challenging and frustrating part of modeling the boat was creating the basic structure. In the beginning, I had re-modeled a “new scene” for the initial rectangular prism at least 5 different times as restarting would have been easier compared to undoing the convoluted edge loops and face morphs.

Nevertheless, outside of the 3D modeling, I was also in charge of Motion Capturing and Building. To introduce people and activity into our town, we chose 4 basic movements to model: walking, running, painting, and rowing. Although fishing was another option, we decided that ultimately including so many movements not only would be extremely convoluted, but also unnecessary. Additionally, due to the scope of our project already, we decided that adding fishing would be an additional challenge that would not be particularly beneficial.

Throughout the Motion Capture process, we were helped by both Chloe Snyder and Robert Zhou. Requiring two trials of 2 hours each, each session was completed in the SIG Lab. I am seen wearing the entire black Motion Capture suit with the sensors attached (Figure 22). Snug to my body, we followed the body layout for where each sensor should be attached. Starting in the T-position as seen in the class demonstration, I completed the motions that are mirrored by the motion skeletons (Figure 22). All four motions, as well as a starting-session movement check, were recorded by Kristin (Link 1). Motion Capture was probably the most challenging since the system was finicky. During the first session with only Chloe, we ended up working for 2 hours before deciding the system was not going to cooperate that day. Many of the sensors were not detected and the cameras kept turning on and off on their own. In addition, if we chose to continue that day, Chloe would have had to manually attach every single sensor to the motion rig skeletons as the computer’s manual identification was blending together arm, torso, hip, and leg sensors. Nonetheless, the second session was much more successful. Robert, who has had much more experience with Motion Capture, ensured that each of the sensors were in the correct place and conducted trial movement captures.

The Motion Capture process was lengthy as there were many waiting periods and frustrations surrounding the system. Nevertheless, the motion skeletons in Motion Capture turned out beautifully. Being the Motion Capture model, I felt embarrassed and pressured to accurately act out the motions. Possibly a psychological effect of my timidity, I thought that the motions were going to come out uncoordinated. As instructed by Professor Erickson, prior to using Motion Capture, I spent time acting out the motions. For walking, running, and painting, I used my intuition as our Motion Capture system did not have the capability to capture every slight finger and toe position. For rowing however, I spent time watching videos on Youtube of modern-day Zhujiajiao boat tours that demonstrated a push-and-pull technique using an oar and rope (Link 2). Although we were hopeful that videos of traditional Qing Dynasty rowing techniques were available, we ended up settling for modern-day videos. Finding sources was a challenge seen throughout our project. Even so, what we did with the gathered resources resulted into a fun and informative experience. Rowing was the most difficult out of the 4 motions. Despite practicing many times before Motion Capture, when seeing my limitations with the system, I had to revise the action. Also, because I could not hold uncaptured props in my hands, creating a small, circular motion with my left hand and a large circular motion with my right hand was hard to coordinate. Although I have not finished Motion Building as of now, that will be the next step for me in this project.

Overall, this project proved to be extremely challenging even in a group of two. Because we chose to not model the Bolivian Amazon, many of our sources were harder to find, particularly scholarly sources and historical imagery. In addition, though we did not realize this actuality when first starting our project, our project was a bit ambitious for our skill set, schedule, and time limitations. Our final project could be improved undoubtedly. Ideally, with more time, we would model the river bank in Maya and then import all our structures into Unity in a geographically-accurate virtual environment. Although our goal was to create a virtual-reality environment for Zhujiajiao, we have decided that such a task may be out of reach for now. If Kristin or I ever wanted to further this project, working in Unity would be one of the first steps. For Motion Capture, modelers could consider additional movements such as fishing or direct conversation to add environmental and contextual realism. In addition, I believe the greatest hindrance for our project was the fact that many historical images and scholarship of Zhujiajiao are not accessible. If a budget were involved, possibly more accurate pictures and research on past and contemporary Zhujiajiao could be obtained from Chinese databases. Additionally, the information regarding Zhujiajiao’s past in Zhujiajiao’s Museum of Arts and Humanities would be invaluable to our project; however, the fact stands that such information is promoted for visitors to come physically see.

Regardless, in many ways, by the end of this project, we will have achieved our goal. Rather than having tourists populate this historic village, we will have almost-ready models of people of the past interacting and completing their daily activities. Though our project currently is only 3D models, we plan on one day importing each element into a virtual-reality environment. We have provided a basis of context to our town, suggesting the fact that Zhujiajiao’s history is composed of its architecture and its inhabitants. The fact that the contents of Zhujiajiao’s Museum of Art and Humanities is not available online shows how Zhujiajiao is preserved and reconstructed with the intent on having tourists.

Nevertheless, through our project, we show how valuable a 3D rendering of the town could be. Zhujiajiao is not currently a UNESCO World Heritage Site. However, through our project, we hope that preservationists and visitors can see the importance on further preserving the town’s history and one day officiate Zhujiajiao as a World Heritage Site. Through our project, we wanted to provide a Zhujiajiao that made the town’s history accurate and easily understandable. What has been preserved of Zhujiajiao now is undeniably crucial to the town’s future presence and standing. However, virtual reality and environments, similar to how Bricken delineates, is such a powerful tool for learning. Through our 3D model and animations, we take a stride into incorporating context into an eventual virtual environment. For professional use, our model and animations would probably not be sufficient; however, in the end, we have still begun starting on a “virtual reality” that contradicts Champion’s critique.

Technology has the potential to revolutionize the way we perceive and understand our surroundings. Though scholars within both computer graphics and other fields such as archaeology are skeptical of virtual realities and their educational applications, virtual environments will redefine the way humans interact with the environment and computers Humans can be included in the “computational environment,” able to interact, modify, and re-experience simulations and events (Bricken 1990). We are able to create a personalized world that adjusts to how we instinctively react and unconsciously think (Bricken 1990).

Moreover, virtual reality may become the bridge of research between scholars and the common public. As fields of study such as archaeology struggle to maintain communication with the public, the disparity between what discoveries have been made and the public’s awareness have grown (Sabloff 1999). Many times, the lack of “popular writing” is neglected as archaeological scholars strive to maintain a degree of rigor and distinction among colleagues. Nevertheless, such an approach only deters the public and results in further broken communication. As a result, many archaeologists such as Professor Clark Erickson have turned to “action archaeology” as a means of providing research for the present communities’ benefit (Sabloff 1999). Archaeologists are now compelled to provide relevant information and research to not only other archaeologists, but also the common people. Through virtual reality, further relevance can be achieved. Virtual reality within games can provide a novel way of presenting reconstructions and engage the common individual (Morgan 2016). Virtual reality currently is not perfect. Many aspects of field archaeology are neglected and unaccounted for. Many scholars also consider video games to be distracting and focused less focused on the intended historic themes. Nevertheless, as Morgan suggests, scholars should attempt an “interventionist attitude”: more scholars should attempt to work in virtual environments first. Virtual reality now is still an undeveloped burgeoning discipline within computer graphics. Though the use of game engines, 3D models, and virtual realities have not been widely accepted, technology has become intertwined into all fields of study. As understanding the past is crucial to understanding the present and future, archaeologists can maintain relevance through the use of virtual reality.

References Cited