HeritageRoots: Developing Interconnected Immersive Experiences for Cultural Preservation and Education
Year: 2024
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: In this paper, we present technical implementation details, describe the virtual world procedural generation pipeline, and discuss potential uses in cultural preservation, museum exhibits, and education of HeritageRoots, an innovative software infrastructure designed for preserving indigenous narratives and oral histories. HeritageRoots consists of two interconnected systems - (1) a web-based knowledge graph (KG) data collection and management system which stores, connects, and presents indigenous traditional knowledge (ITK) in the form of narratives, myths, and testimonies from multiple cultures and languages; (2) a virtual environment rendering pipeline which utilizes large language models (LLM), Unity3D, and Meta Quest software development kit (SDK) to procedurally generate virtual worlds from the KG data. Preliminary system evaluation with Ecuadorian Kichwa narratives showed promising results in (1) academic community interest and support, (2) the possibility of developing an infrastructure capable of connecting indigenous narratives with modern scientific knowledge via KGs and (3) procedurally generating virtual worlds from KG.
Authors: Dmitriy Babichenko, Tod Swanson
Institutions: University of Pittsburgh, Arizona State University
Language: English
Subfield: Human-Computer Interaction
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: diamond
Funder: University of Pittsburgh
OpenAlex ID: W4403209673