From Chasqui to Chasqui II: an Evolution in the Conceptualization of Virtual Objects

This paper describes the evolution experienced by the concept of virtual object. This concept has evolved in the context of several e-learning projects developed by the Software Engineering and Artificial Intelligence (ISIA) group at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM). The initial goal of the first of these projects, the Chasqui Project, was to facilitate the didactic and scientific use of real objects belonging to the Archaeology Museum of the Department of American History II at this University. As a concept intended for organizing learning and scientific information, the concept of virtual object has undergone an important transformation as it has been applied to two other projects: the virtualization of the Museum of the History of Computing at the School of Computer Science at the same university, and the Chasqui II project, an improved version of the first Chasqui, which is now under development by the ISIA group and the Telefónica I+D corporation.