I took a lieu day this week to attend a BA Festival of Science talk by Dr Paul.M.Chapman of Hull University. The topic was underwater exploration and the focus was on a new computer programme that will allow the general public to see what it's like at a shipwreck site. My fourth Dr Midas book will be centred around diving so this was a great introduction to underwater archaeology.
VENUS is the cool name of the project - and it stands for Virtual Exploration of Underwater Sites. The problem with a lot of underwater sites of interest is that they are lost over time through erosion. The VENUS project hopes to create a 3D record of sites before they disappear forever currently focusing on a site in Italy and one in Portugal. The examples given were of boats from 200AD which were used to transport amphoras - two handled jars for holding wine but there was also talk of the Titanic which would be very expensive and difficult to do.
The computer programme was photo-realistic and Dr Chapman hopes it will soon be used in people's homes and it will soon be used as a learning tool at The Deep, an aquarium in Hull which I'd love to visit. Users will be able to control where they explore in real-time, seeing artefacts, sealife, plantlife as well as effects including fogging, silt, caustics and god-rays. There will be story boxes appearing at certain points to explain what they are seeing.
Museums have really changed over recent years and I can see this type of machine being really popular and it's definitely the sort of thing I could imagine there being in Dr Midas's museum! I also learned a little bit about ROVs (remotely operated vehicles) and AOV (autonomous operated vehicles - where you can set their route) and I have plans on how to give this a twist in my next book. I also learned about some of the perils divers face and I had a sudden idea that Sniffer the robo-dog may end up dognapped. Oh dear - but I'm sure he'll be fine though.
For more information about VENUS visit www.venus-project.eu and for the BA Festival of Science visit www.the-ba.net/festival of science
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