CARARE - D5.1 Functional specification of requirements for preparing 3D/VR for Europeana (Final)

CARARE will make 3D accessible as a new type of content for Europeana users from 2012 onwards. This report sets out the functional specification of requirements for both content providers preparing to make their 3D resources accessible and Europeana on the delivery of such resources. The resulting document provides a workflow for implementation by CARARE.

While people are familiar with seeing 3D effects (in commercials, TV, film footage and as images, etc.) most have little or no experience of interacting with a 3D environment. A few Europeana users will have experience of using interactive 3D in games or other 3D environments on the internet. But with the exception of experts, very few users are likely to have had experience of interacting with cultural heritage data in 3D. So an important aspect of this preparing specification has been to propose ways that allow all users of
Europeana to interact in a natural way with 3D to explore, appreciate and enjoy European culture.