毕业设计（论文）

文 献 综 述（包括国内外现状、研究方向、进展情况、存在问题、参考依据等）

Literature Review on 3D Virtual Exhibition

Ⅰ、 Situation of Study

The world’s exhibition industry has a very long history, it provides an

opportunity for the enterprises to show their products, get industry information,

promote their image and increase the sales. Therefore, the exhibition industry is

approved by most companies and developing rapidly.

Through bring people a lot of benefits, the traditional physical exhibitions still

have many disadvantages, such as high cost, limited time and space, high pollution

and waste, and so on. With the development of internet, online exhibition became

more and more popular. According to China Convention and Exhibition Information

Center’s (CCEIC) report, by 2010, one third of the convention and exhibition

websites will hold online exhibitions, two third of those large physical exhibitions

will launch online exhibitions simultaneously and the amount of individual online

exhibitions will come up to one fourth of that of physical exhibitions.

No doubt the online exhibition improved the physical exhibition in many

respects, low cost, low pollution and unlimited time and space. However, some birth

defects are holding it back. “Online exhibition can not satisfy the spectators’ need of

direct viewing. For some products like fashions, it’s important to experience the

unique design, the overall visual effect, or the special handle. So a physical display of

the product is necessary.” Said Xiong Xunlin, the director of Exhibition Management

Office of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade “Besides, the need

of interpersonal communication can not be well satisfied in a online exhibition,

people are used to talk face to face.”引用

In order to combine the advantage of both physical and online exhibition, people

start to research on 3D VIRTUAL EXHIBITION. 3D virtual exhibition present a real

exhibition to people on line through 3D virtual reality technology. It simulates a

physical exhibition through designs of interaction programs.

3D is short for three dimension which means length, width and height. 3D

computer graphics (in contrast to 2D computer graphics) are graphics that use a three-

dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the

computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images. Such

images may be for later display or for real-time viewing. (Wikipedia.org)

The core technology used in 3D virtual exhibition is VIRTUAL REALITY (VR).

VR is based on 3D computer graphics and is a computer-simulated environment,

whether that environment is a simulation of the real world or an imaginary world.

Most current virtual reality environments are primarily visual experiences, displayed

either on a computer screen or through special or stereoscopic displays, but some

simulations include additional sensory information, such as sound through speakers or

headphones. Some advanced, haptic systems now include tactile information,

generally known as force feedback, in medical and gaming applications. Users can

interact with a virtual environment or a virtual artifact (VA) either through the use of

standard input devices such as a keyboard and mouse, or through multimodal devices

such as a wired glove, the Polhemus boom arm, and omnidirectional treadmill. The

simulated environment can be similar to the real world, for example, simulations for

pilot or combat training, or it can differ significantly from reality, as in VR games.

(Wikipedia.org)

So far, the VR technology used in virtual exhibitions are only visual simulation,

either in practice or studies. In practice there isn’t any individual 3D virtual

exhibition, but some are held together with physical ones as a subsidiary. The best

example is the 3D virtual exhibition for the World Expo 2010 Shanghai

(www.expo.cn). In this website, all the exhibition halls are the same as that in reality.

People can even choose to visit in the daytime or night, and the buildings will show

different appearance. In the exhibition halls, all the exhibits are displayed in 3D and

look exactly the same as the real ones. There’s a tour guide stay with you to introduce

you the exhibits you see. The virtual exhibition started before the physical one and did

a good promotion for the World Expo 2010.

Besides the World Expo 2010, some 3D virtual exhibition platform softwares

had been launched. In March 2009, a Chinese company FairTheWorld launched their

virtual exhibition platform FairNFair which is the first commercial application of 3D

computer graphics technology (www.fairtheworld.com). Soon after, Oracle launched

their 3D virtual exhibition platform too, which is called UnisFair (www.unisfair.com).

Not long after, from the report of the research institution VGMarket, Microsoft is

planning to promote virtual expo technology on its XBOX Live platform. Game fans

can enjoy the game shows such as E3 and TGS, etc. With the technology, the XBOX

fans can visit the game producers' bootHS just as at the real show, watching their

promotional vidEos, viewing posters and even trying new games or having

interactions, etc. (http://finance.ifeng.com/usstock/realtime/20091209/1562896.shtml)

Though some 3D virtual exhibition products had been launched, most of the

explorations on it still stay in theories. Many research workers have studied on it from

various angles.

Ⅱ、Research Directions

Many scholars from different fields have studied on 3D virtual exhibition from

different directions.

Technical study is the foundation of all other studies, if 3D virtual exhibition is

technically unrealizable, then other studies are of no value. Technical study, in another

word, is a study from the angle of exhibition organizers. What they study is whether a

3D virtual exhibition can substitute all the functions of a physical one.

The most important technology in 3D virtual exhibition is 3D computer graphics

which is mentioned before. Through there’re not many applications on 3D virtual

exhibition, the 3D computer graphics technology has been developed for many years

and is reaching maturity. The most popular field of 3D computer graphics application

is game. Most current games are three dimensional. For instance, in a racing game,

the drivers the cars and everything you can see are three dimensional and are the same

as you can see in a real race. In some sports games like FIFA, even the players are

exactly the same as those in the real world. You can find out which is Ronaldo, which

is Beckham, and every player you know. In terms of 3D virtual exhibition, there are

two major types. One is 3D virtual exhibition platforms like FairNFair, UnisFair and

Microsoft 3D virtual exhibition application. With these platforms, organizers can hold

different kinds of exhibitions, exhibitor can move in by themselves, choose from

different kinds of booths, upload logos, advertisements, promotion videos and 3D

product models. After that the system will set up a booth for you. The other type of

3D virtual exhibitions is disposable one. In this situation, the whole project is

designed for only one exhibition. Some researchers from Ca’ Foscari University of

Venice designed a 3D virtual exhibition call THE EINSTEIN TOWER WORLD,

which is a system conceived in occasion of the German Expressionism exhibition held

in 1997 at Palazzo Grassi in Venice. It accurately reconstructed the physical

exhibition. People who missed the German Expressionism exhibition can come to the

Einstein Tower World. They are one exhibition displayed in two different ways. (THE

EINSTEIN TOWER WORLD) These studies bring 3D virtual reality technology into

exhibition industry and laid a good foundation for 3D virtual exhibition.

For a virtual exhibition in a museum, the function is simple. The organizer only

needs to show the items to people. The spectators just come to watch. So set up the

exhibition is almost all the work. While in most cases, such as a trade fair, watch is

not enough, people need to talk to each other. So Human-human interaction is another

point studied. Due to the limitation of bandwidth and the servers’ processing capacity,

the current communication function is undertaken by individual instant messaging

(IM) tools like Skype, MSN and QQ. The FairTheWorld Company developed its own

IM tool Big-Boss Talk (BBT). These tools have already been used a lot in E-

Commerce and on-line exhibitions. These tools make on-line communication easy

and convenient, but it’s not as good as a real talk in effect. People still like to talk face

to face. It’s more casual than talk to a computer. Besides, in many situations, people

need to talk not only one to one but in a group. Some researchers from Kyoto

University realized that and developed a 3D virtual space for casual talks,

FREEWALK. FreeWalk is a meeting environment for casual communication in a

networked community, FreeWalk provides 3D common area where everyone can meet

and talk freely. FreeWalk represents participants as 3D polygon pyramids, on which

their live video is mapped. Voice volume remains proportional to the distance between

sender and receiver. (A 3D Virtual Space for casual meetings) These tools and studies

greatly improved the communication environment in 3D virtual exhibitions.

Another necessary work for both 3D virtual exhibitions and physical exhibitions

is statistics and study of users’ behavior. This helps the organizers to evaluate the

exhibitions, and to improve in later ones. On-line exhibition makes the statistics work

much easier. The computer can record data automatically. The click rates, the length

of stays, the amount of transaction and many other works which are too difficult for

human to do can be done as soon as the exhibition ends. Luca Chittaro and Lucio

Ieronutti from HCI Lab, Dept. of Math and Computer Science, University of Udine

developed a visual tool called VU-Flow for tracing users’ behavior in virtual

environments. This tool, is able to automatically record usage data of Virtual

Environments (VEs) and then visualize it in formats that make it easy for the VE

designer and exhibition organizer to visually detect peculiar users' behaviors. (A

Visual Tool for Tracing Users’ Behavior in Virtual Environments)

The above are technical studies which go from the angle of exhibition organizers,

while some other researchers tried to study 3D virtual exhibition from the angle of

exhibitors and spectators. Study from the standpoint of exhibitors means to study

whether the exhibitors can achieve their purpose with a 3D virtual exhibition.

Generally, the purposes of taking part in an exhibition are as follow, increasing sales,

getting information, opening relationships and promoting image. (参展商参展目的、

绩效评估及其相关关系研究 ) In this respect, researchers have done some

comparative studies between 3D virtual exhibition and the physical one. As there are

not many 3D virtual exhibitions held until now, so this part of researches are base on

2D web exhibitions.

Some other researchers stand on the point of spectators, their studies aimed on

how to give the spectators the same experience in a 3D virtual exhibition as that in a

physical one. Wang Nan from Zhe Jiang University studied on this issue base on the

first time interests of users in virtual exhibition platform. The study illustrated the role

of interests of user in a virtual exhibition platform by the eye tracking system

experiments and user surveys. Made based on user interest in the virtual exhibition

platform for the research，opend a wider space for exhibition design，and provided a

better reference for designers from a rational point of view to better grasp the focus of

the exhibition design from a rational point of view, and design for users．(基于用户

兴趣的虚拟会展平台研究)

The above are the directions of current studies done on 3D virtual exhibitions.

Ⅲ、Research Progress

The exhibition industry has been developed for hundreds of years and the web

exhibition has a history of several decades too, while 3D virtual exhibition is a new

thing. Lacking of practices in the industry, the study on 3D virtual exhibition stays in

the basic theory stage.

The technical studies make up the majority of all the studies. All the functions of

a physical can be replaced in a 3D virtual exhibition by different tools. Some 3D

exhibition simulation softwares like FairNFair and UnisFair had been launched. Some

other exhibitions have already brought the 3D virtual exhibition into practice. The 3D

virtual on-line World Expo give people a chance to visit the World Expo at home and

for free. IM tools solved the on line communication problem. People can set up a

conversation to discuss their business on line at any time. You can even set up a

group, casual talk like that in a coffee break. Exhibition Information Management

System provides an effective interaction between the organizer and the exhibitor and

real-time releases the exhibition information, including calendaring and scheduling,

exhibition news, information of demands, recommendation of key projects, and so on.

The exhibition management system provides on line exhibitor and spectator

registering, booth ordering, and project registering before the exhibition; provides

exhibition management and information management during an exhibition; and

provides exhibition statistics after the exhibition. The exhibition business platform

system provides a platform for the exhibitors and spectators to negotiate, to transact

and to attract investment. Besides, based upon the strong information processing

ability of computers, the system can help intelligent project matching which can make

it much easier to find potential customers and suppliers. (基于网络技术的会展研究)

These studies greatly advanced the development of 3D virtual exhibition.

Due to lacking of study examples, the studies on 3D virtual exhibitions’

exhibitors and spectators are not intensive. Most of the studies are based on

hypothetical models. Others take 2D web exhibitions as examples, which are the same

style as the 3D virtual exhibitions. These studies point out the advantages and

disadvantages of 3D virtual exhibitions compared to physical exhibitions. Web

exhibition has no limitation of location. Exhibitors and spectators from anywhere of

the world can take part in any web exhibitions. Web exhibition has no limitation of

time, it can be held for a day, a week, a year, or forever. Spectators do not need to

arrange their time. They can visit the exhibition at any time they want as long as the

exhibition is there. The web exhibition has no limitation of venue. The size of the

exhibition can be as large as needed. The cost of participating in a web exhibition is

low for both exhibitors and spectators. There’s no venue rent, no travelling expense,

and no accommodation fee. However web exhibition has serious weakness. For some

products, trying in person is necessary. For foods and drinks, if you don’t try, you will

never know how it tastes. For clothes, if you don’t touch, you will never know the

handle of the material. People can not know well about these products through a web

exhibition. Besides, trying in person, talking face to face, and trading in reality are the

way that people are used to and done many years. Many people feel inconvenient and

strange of web exhibitions. These factors blocked the development of web

exhibitions. (网络会展对馆场会展的冲击及其思考)

The above are the progress of the current studies.

Ⅳ、Defects of Current Studies

Many researches have done very valuable exploration on 3D virtual exhibition.

Thanks to their efforts, the 3D virtual exhibition is getting closer and closer to us.

However the 3D virtual exhibition is still in the primary process of its development.

Therefore, there are still many defects of the current studies.

One of the most important problems is that, though a lot of studies from many

different respects have been done, there isn’t any holistic feasibility study until now.

Whether 3D virtual exhibition can replace the physical exhibition or not is a

complicated question, many different factors need to be considered. If the technology

is maturational enough to present a 3D virtual exhibition on line but it can not meet

the exhibitors’ requirement, then it’s no value; if it can meet the exhibitors’

requirement but the spectators have no interest in this form of exhibition, then it’s no

value too; If both the organizer and the participants benefit from the exhibition, but it

has other side effects, then it’s still need to be carefully considered. One example of

the side effects of the 3D online exhibition’s replace of the physical exhibition is that,

the physical exhibition’s significant driving role in the local economic will disappear.

Besides, the government’s policy and the social factors need to be considered too.

Then, technological layer, though there are many different tools to satisfy all the

needs of setting up a 3D virtual exhibition, they are all separate. Customers need to

run several different softwares to participate in a 3D virtual exhibition. It’s

inconvenient to use. Another problem of the technology is, there’s little practice, so

there isn’t any study based on customers’ feedback. Therefore, the technology

remains to be tested by practice.

The studies on customers of 3D virtual exhibitions are superficial because of

example shortage. In fact, it still can be more thorough studied under existence

conditions. For example, many researchers compared 3D virtual exhibition with

physical exhibition and listed some advantages and disadvantages of 3D virtual

exhibition. One of the disadvantages is that for some products, watch and try in

person is necessary, so these products are not suitable to be shown in a 3D virtual

exhibition. One researcher found that online book exhibitions have got very good

results among all the web exhibitions. He pointed out that it’s because, the books you

can buy in a web exhibition usually are exactly the same as that you can find in a

physical exhibition. There’s no different in quality, no different in size and no

different in the content. (网络会展对馆场会展的冲击及其思考 ) That is a good

discussion, it helps people to understand what kind of products are suitable for 3D

virtual exhibition. While it could be further. Book is only an individual case, if we can

find a formula to evaluate whether a product or a industry is suitable to be shown in

3D virtual exhibitions or not, then that will be more helpful for organizers and

exhibitors.

The above mentioned are some defects of the current studies. I’ll try to find

solutions to solve these defects in my paper. And hope my efforts would push the

study on 3D virtual exhibition a little forwards.