Centre for Immersive Technology and Creative

 REPORT OF ACTIVITIES

VR technology at Melaka

The Centre for Immersive Technology and Creativity (CITC), a research centre with a vision of heritage and cultural preservation, presented a virtual reality (VR) walkthrough featuring traditional Malay houses at the Malay and Islamic World Museum (Muzium Dunia Melayu Dunia Islam (DMDI)) in Melaka from 23 March to 19 April 2016.

The main organiser of the exhibition was Seremban Chinese Culture Society (SCCS), along with CITC and DMDI as co-organisers. Ten Diamond served as the main sponsor. The exhibition was launched on 23 March 2016 by Pengerusi Lembaga Pengarah Perbadanan Muzium Melaka (PERZIM) Datuk Wira Haji Hamdin Bin Abdollah and Pengurus Besar Perbadanan Muzium Melaka Datuk Haji Khamis Bin Haji Abas. The opening ceremony was attended by local NGOs, culture developers, press, and students.

The Traditional Malay House VR Walkthrough by CITC's VR and AR Division 2 (VRAD2) was presented during the launch. The VR walkthrough was modeled by CITC Chairperson Aloysius Yapp and developed by Lim Chai Kim.During the launching of the exhibition, Yapp shared his insightful thoughts on using virtual reality as a new media for preserving and presenting local culture, such as the intricate architecture of traditional Malay houses. He shared that it is important for the younger generation to pick up an interest in and take care of their heritage and culture. He also looked forward to future collaboration with PERZIM in the area of virtualisation.
It was an interesting and fascinating event that came about through the merging of traditional culture and modern technology.  In conjunction with the 2nd World Invention Innovation Contest (WiC) 2016 organised by Korea Invention News (KINEWS), Yapp and his team received the silver award for their CGI Malay House VR Walkthrough project.




Front row, fifth from left: Yapp, Datuk Wira, and Datuk Haji Khamis


The VIPs and guests at the launch


Exhibition Hall


Renderings on display

 

IMMA Festival 2016

Members of the Centre of Immersive Technology and Creativity (CITC) showed off “Prima Borneo”, a natural heritage preservation project at the International Multidisciplinary Media Arts (IMMA) Festival 2016 held in Quill City Mall, Kuala Lumpur from 19 to 21 August 2016.
Themed ‘See the Unseen’, the festival was organised by the Centre for Interactive Media of Multimedia University. The festival was a platform for creative expression of interactive arts production.
Led by CITC Chairperson Aloysius Yapp, the UTAR team responsible for “Prima Borneo” consisted of CGI content developer Goh Kiang Kuan, CGI walkthrough developer Chong Hwei Teeng, visual coordinator Mohd Fairuz Bin Ali, supporting visual developer Ng Perng Jeu, pre-visualization coordinator Dr Yap Shook Chin and digital archivist Lim Chai Kim.
In the project, the team supplied a basic representation of the actual scenes and habitats that can be found in Borneo through new media technology. It also gave viewers an opportunity to experience its beauty.
“Viewers are able to interact with the presentation by looking into the dark cave. Time-based visuals of Borneo can be achieved through a projection of multi-reflective lights over mirrors. As a result, it momentarily brings the viewer into another dimension or space,” he continued.
 “With our expertise on Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), New Media, Immersive Media, Digital Animation, Digital Photo Imaging, Programming, Digital Archiving, Mobile Apps Development, Visual Data Collection, Visual Analysis and Computer Generated Imagery (CGI), we have managed to preserve the natural heritage of Borneo in digital format,” Yapp said.

The festival has given CITC the opportunity to acquire more knowledge on the usage of new media technologies such as HoloLens, CGI video mapping, and video and audio processing. The festival also saw participation from universities from South Korea and Thailand


Members of the Prima Borneo project
IP application for Project Milk

On 27 May 2016, the creators of a game named “Project Milk” submitted an application for Intellectual Property (IP) protection at the Department of Consultancy and Commercialisation (DCC) for future commercialisation.
The game was developed as a Final Year Project by Game Design students with the cooperation of lecturers Chong Hwei Teeng, Lim Chai Kim, and Benedict Ng Boon Yew. 
The students, Low Qing Huai, Liew Wah Sheng, and Joseph Chung Hong Giat, also won first prize for the moving images category at the Creative Industries Young Scholar Conference held on 13 April 2016.

The game is ready for publishing and is awaiting approval from Google and Apple. It will soon be available for download through platforms such as the App Store and Google Play Store. This project was supported by UTAR’s Centre of Immersive Technology and Creativity (CITC). 




From left: CITC Chairperson Aloysius Yapp, DCC Director Ching Yen Choon, Low, Liew, Chung and Chong

Ching testing the game