Using Synergies with Datascope
Together with external partners and (inter)national experts, St. Pölten UAS researchers work on the connected future of rural areas
The research project “Datascope” develops mobile data visualisation methods integrated into real-life surroundings to combine data displayed in the physical environment and abstract data representation. In other words: the project renders invisible environmental data visible to us humans.
The focus was placed on outdoor use, away from well-developed digital infrastructure, i.e. in rural areas. Location-based environmental data are captured by sensors and subsequently displayed. Potential application areas are disaster protection, agriculture, viticulture, drinking water supply, and winter road maintenance.
Wolfgang Aigner, Head of the Institute of Creative Media Technologies (IC\M/T) of the St. Pölten UAS heads the project, which has involved research and collaboration both between various research groups and across institutional boundaries since the middle of 2020.
Exploiting National and International Expertise
In March, researchers of both participating institutes, the IC\M/T and the Institute of IT Security Research, came together to engage in intensive exchange and further improve coordination. In addition, external partners and guests were invited to contribute their expertise on the relevant technologies of the research project as well as on the application area of “Cultural Heritage Preservation”.
Guest Lecture “Visualisation in Outdoor AR”
The keynote on information visualisation in outdoor areas through Augmented Reality (AR) was delivered by Dieter Schmalstieg, a university professor at Graz University of Technology and an internationally renowned expert in the field of AR/VR.
Schmalstieg has been working on AR for 25 years and shared his insights, results and techniques on the application of AR in outdoor areas with the Datascope team.
Dieter Schmalstieg, expert in the field of AR/VR | Copyright: private
Exchange with National and International Guests
The subsequent workshop was held with the aim to go into more detail on the topic of cultural heritage preservation, which is one of the project’s use cases. Together with the invited national and international experts, the Datascope team collected ideas on how to use sensors and sensor visualisation for the monitoring and conservation of historical sites and objects.
The participants discussed concrete challenges and addressed issues such as security and data protection, the lack of common tools and shared terminology in the field, or the identification of those in charge of the aforementioned sites and objects.
Our guests:
- Experts of the Danube University Krems: Christian Hanus (Dean of the Faculty of Education, Arts and Architecture), Anna Maria Kaiser (Continuing Education Programme Head – Center for Cultural Property Protection), Gregor Radinger (Head of the Center for Environmental Sensitivity), Renate Prünster-Deschauer (Center for Architectural Heritage and Infrastructure)
- International experts: Riccardo Cacciotti (Department of Monument Diagnostics and Conservation, Czech Academy of Sciences), Valeriano Vallesi (Ordine degli Architetti di ASCOLI PICENO)
The “School of Reconstruction” in Accumoli (Italy) has great potential for collaboration with the project. Headed by the Danube University Krems, this interdisciplinary partnership seeks to develop and realise long-term teaching and research projects, which not only focus on the earthquake-proof reconstruction of historical buildings but also address the sustainable reactivation of economic, social, cultural and religious structures.
Further Steps
In a further step, the collected ideas and identified challenges will be applied to the design of useful demonstrators to support experts in the field. In addition, the Datascope team will perform research on the development and assessment of new technologies for the visualisation of location-based environmental data.
