We All Live in a Virtual Submarine
Our seas and oceans hide a plethora of archaeological sites such as ancient shipwrecks that, overtime, are being destroyed through activities such as deepwater trawling and treasure hunting. In 2006, a multidisciplinary team of 11 European institutions established the Venus (Virtual Exploration of Underwater Sites) consortium to make underwater sites more accessible by generating thorough, exhaustive 3D records for virtual exploration. Over the past three years, we surveyed several shipwrecks around Europe and investigated advanced techniques for data acquisition using both autonomous and remotely operated vehicles coupled with innovative sonar and photogrammetric equipment. Access to most underwater sites can be difficult and hazardous owing to deep waters. However, this same inhospitable environment offers extraordinary opportunities to archaeologists because darkness, low temperatures, and low oxygen rates are all favorable to preservation. From a visualization pipeline perspective, this project had two main challenges. First, we had to gather large amounts of raw data from various sources. Then, we had to develop techniques to filter, calibrate, and map the data and then bring it all together into a single accurate visual representation.
Empire 3D: A Collaborative Semantic Annotation Tool for Virtual Environments
3D visualization is a powerful tool to increase understanding and experience of the world’s cultural heritage. However, where there is incomplete primary material on which to base visualizations there is a recognised danger that 3D models, as absolutist in their representations, can be misinterpreted as a totally accurate replica of reality. Good practice in creating digital reconstructions of non extant architecture leads to researchers meticulously documenting the process and outputs of heritage visualizations, however unless the research sources and methods are made explicit and visible, the danger of mis-reading visualized data remains. 
 
This research describes the development of software that allows research sources, methods, and interpretation to be added as multimedia annotations to a 3D scene comprising the entire British Empire Exhibition of 1938. All real-world and digital objects are semantically described and given a spatial placement within the scene. The software is built on a CIDOC-CRM export-compatible data model and provides a novel interface which allows groups of users to collaboratively and simultaneously create annotations in an intuitive discursive visualization environment using remote tablet PCs. The development of a unique, life-size, stereo visualization of this lost architecture, with spatialised semantic annotations, will enhance engagement with and understanding of this hugely significant event in history.
Archaeological Survey of Dangoyama Kofun by 3DGPR
We presented a three-dimensional ground penetrating radar (3DGPR) system for the archeological investigation in a harsh site, where we have to deal with many trees and/or great topographic variations. This system consists of a commercial GPR system with a laser positioning system. With this system, we can move the GPR antenna freely, on which a positioning detector can record accurate position for each GPR data trace. We applied our 3DGPR system at Dangoyama Kofun, a burial mound, in Fukushima prefecture, Japan. A lot of trees and bushes covered the survey area and cannot be cut. We acquired six datasets in two days in this area. We successfully imaged the boundary between the original surface of the burial mound and the covering soil clearly at about 0.3 m depth around the mound. Furthermore, we found some strong reflections appeared at 0.8 m depth in the top area of the mound, which can be from the artificial parts of the burial mound. The results would greatly aid the following archaeological excavation. In addition, we compared the non-interpolated depth slice with interpolated depth slice at same position and demonstrated that the interpolation process on threedimensional GPR data may introduce some artifacts which might mislead our interpretation.