2005 Computerworld Honors Program

	Theatron Project University of Warwick Coventry, CV4 7AL United Kingdom Year: 2002 Status: Laureate Category: Education & Academia Nominating Company: Autodesk
	The history of theatre, the earliest known form of virtual reality, is brought vividly to life in a teaching and research module that features 3D interactive real time walkthroughs of highly accurate VR models of present and past theatres.
	After surveying and closely evaluating examples of current needs and best practice in a variety of institutions engaged in the teaching of theatre, worldwide, the consortium created a prototype software application. This consists of a selection of "virtual" theatres from across Europe, with a user interface enabling students and teachers to access graphical and textual material, illustrating and exploring the history, evolution, variety and current range of theatrical practice in Europe. In addition to providing extensive primary factual information, the software allows students and teachers to access and study essential elements of theatre, such as time, space, acoustics, lighting and sightlines, which are difficult to convey using conventional teaching materials.
	The THEATRON project(1)has successfully developed an educational multimedia application geared towards the history of European theatre building that makes extensive use of 3Dimensional computer models of historical and contemporary venues. In effect: THEATRON puts (historical) theatres in the computer in such a way that users can virtually walk through the theatres in real time and can ask for a great variety of information pertaining to specific characteristics of these venues. Using the program is thus ideally rather like undertaking a virtual and interactive exploration of a theatre site with all extensive explanations, historical material and references to other theatres immediately at hand. The project was originally jointly conceived by the theatre departments of the University of Warwick and the Universiteit van Amsterdam who saw students of higher education as the initial target group for the prototype of the module. However, its content can easily be adapted to other learning levels, and moreover, the application itself can be used to teach any subject in which it is desirable to assemble a large variety of illustrative and explanatory materials, and in particular, 3 dimensional places or objects. This is a crucial factor in assessing the overall potential of the completed prototype module. Why the THEATRON module? Problems in studying theatre history In London's Covent Garden, in the midst of the "theatre district" and literally in the shadow of such venerable and renowned buildings as the Royal Opera House and the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, one finds the British Theatre Museum. A branch of the Victoria and Albert Museum, it was finally opened in 1987, after an intensive campaign stretching back some seventy years to provide a permanent site for an extensive range of collections documenting the rich history of British theatre, and displaying a vast range of artefacts and memorabilia. Visitors find within extensive displays of every conceivable type: early promptbooks and playbills, a wide selection of paintings of actors, scenes and performances, costumes, props, models stage sets, even a selection of painted scenery and backcloths from memorable productions of the past. These may be perhaps what Shakespeare had in mind when he observed how "the baseless fabric of this vision, the cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, the solemn temples, the great globe itself, yea all which it inherit, shall dissolve; and like this insubstantial pageant faded, lean not a rack behind." [Tempest IV, 1, 148ff.] But in fact, the theatre in the course of its long history has left not just racks, but vast amounts of "such stuff as dreams are made on", in its luminous wake. Because the collections held by such museums are so enormous - they may literally contain millions of objects and documents - only a tiny fraction of the holdings can be displayed at any one time; the rest remain in storage, awaiting their next brief period, as it were "under the spotlights", before going back into obscure storage once more. Theatre is of course quintessentially a visual medium -- the Greeks had a word for it, THEATRON: literally, the "seeing place". And this visual quality has always been absolutely central to the nature of theatre and our understanding of it, whether like the Romans we call it spectaculum, or with Inigo Jones characterize it has "nothing else but pictures with light and motion", or simply advertise it as "a Show". But more than that, theatre is a living art form: it literally takes place in time and space, using as its essential medium the moving bodies of its actors. Moreover, theatre is also the earliest known form of "Virtual Reality", both for the performers as they impersonate people, places, emotions and the like which are not in fact real, as well as for the spectators as they engage in imaginative acts of empathy with people and circumstances whom they know are only and always "virtual". When theatre takes place, it often also takes a great deal of space. In an ancient Greek theatre the distance between the actors and the audience could be 100 metres; the most intimate modern "chamber" playhouse is still of a size which few museums, however spacious, could adequately display. Even stage scenery can be enormous. The student is thus expected to understand and appreciate the art and history of the theatre by peering at tiny immobile displays of a few actual artefacts, supplemented by some miniature stage sets, and perhaps a selection of two dimensional photographs or drawings. The origin of the THEATRON project in an academic environment informed the entire educational approach of the application, and also decisively determined the rationale for developing this program. As every lecturer in a theatre department has experienced, teaching theatre and its history is a challenging undertaking because the object of study is a fleeting one. The multi media event constituting a theatrical performance ceases to exist once the curtain falls and the applause has died away. What remains of a performance -at best- are traces in history; the sort of materials displayed in a theatre museum. What also survives, sometimes, is the theatrical environment itself in which this complex event took place. It is moreover, an environment that would have been decisive in shaping the synthesis of all the theatrical elements and in determining the activity of the performers and the experience of the audience. However, this theatre structure is itself not immutable, and it does not last. The grand theatres of the ancient world lie in an inarticulate jumble of ruins; Shakespeare's Globe is represented only by recently discovered scant archaeological fragments from its foundations; the appearance of the seminal theatres of the Italian Renaissance may is in some cases a matter of conjecture, and even those structures that have survived to the present day, were often substantially remodelled over the centuries. Nevertheless, teachers in theatre departments are often passionate about wishing to instil in their students a sense of what past performance was like. They want these students to develop a mental image - as accurate as possible - of what the theatrical event looked like and what in turn it might have meant to a contemporary audience. In short: teaching theatre history is greatly concerned with enabling students to reassemble all the dispersed and insubstantial fragments back into a coherent and three-dimensional whole. However, this is rarely a straightforward task. Anyone who has ever tried to read an architectural ground plan and cross-section will know how difficult it can be to form a reliable image of the building depicted - let alone if one wants imaginatively to embellish this image with a set, actors in costume, an audience, a particular lighting and sound, etc. Of course, a reconstructive drawing, a painting, a photo or a cinematic record will do better but even then one often cannot secure a satisfactory sense of "the lost continent" of historic performance. It was precisely to address such problems that the THEATRON project was developed. The new multi-media technology especially that of virtual reality - can help in recreating the theatrical events of the past; beginning quite literally from the ground up, with the theatre structures in which such events took place. In a sense the new technologies are in the process of catching up with the scholarly imagination, and can thus provide a uniquely appropriate medium to communicate a lively understanding of theatre history. What was therefore conceived was the creation of virtual theatres from the entire history of European theatre, that could be explored from behind the computer screen and that are linked to a great variety of scholarly material - so that the student can access very substantial amounts of data pertaining to the specific features of the theatre he or she is visiting at that moment. Using the program was intended to be like walking around an historical building with an exceptionally knowledgeable tour guide carrying with him a stack of "show and tell" materials: books, pictures, descriptions, architectural plans, etc. The THEATRON module uses a pedagogical approach through which the communication of information and ideas can take place in a far more effective (and enjoyable) manner than by means of conventional teaching. An important element of this approach is the "inter-activity" of the module: the capacity to involve the users directly in the learning process by engaging them imaginatively and intellectually in a variety of choices, options, and alternative ways of confronting and manipulating the historical evidence. Since in studying theatres from the past so much of the evidence is ephemeral or ambiguous and often by its nature dependent upon variable qualities and relationships between space, movement, sound, vision and colour (the innate expressive elements out of which all acts of theatre are composed) the capacities of multi-media are ideal for enabling the student not just to read or be told about these factors but directly to experience and analyse them him or herself. And in doing so the student user will be able to get a sense of how an historic theatre functioned - both in terms of its complex back-stage operation as an institution and activity, as well as quite literally from the point of view of the audience Ideally students will become aware of and sensitive to the fact that the actual theatre building is a relatively complex structure that depends on a number of choices by the architect, the manager, and the artists, which not only reflect the encompassing culture, including the concept and role of theatrical activity within that culture (be it political, commercial or religious) - but also choices that serve to shape the aesthetic experience of performers, spectators and patrons. Thus the inherent inter-active potential of the multi-media materials and techniques themselves are merely an entertaining diversion, but rather an integral and essential part of the learning process itself. The module quite literally, enables acts of learning to take place. In doing so, it also of course draws directly upon the metaphor of the theatrical art which forms its subject. For in one sense theatre is itself mankind's earliest example of "virtual reality" as it seeks to evoke, represent, and interpret people, places and events, which are not themselves "real" but which (when the spectator "willingly suspends his disbelief") have the potential to impart powerful learning experiences upon the audience. To employ advanced technology as an educational tool for the study of theatre is both timely and highly appropriate. The state of the art use of advanced technology to fashion multi-media and virtual reality, has found its ideal object, by returning to its own origins in one of the earliest of all European forms of art. In T. S. Eliot's phrase, "we shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time"! (1)THEATRON is an acronym, it stands for: Theatre History in Europe: Architectural and Textual Resources Online. The project was sponsored by the Esprit programme of the European Commission. Partners that been worked on this project are: University of Warwick, UK; Universiteit van Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Università degli Studi di Ferrara, Italy; Atelier 4D Architekten, Germany; SPC Group bv, The Netherlands; Theatron Limited, UK; and the Association of the European Foundation for Heritage Skills, France.
	Information technology is the keystone to the THEATRON project, advances in telecommunications and three dimensional visualisation have make the world wide web a brave new world for those who are interested in exploiting the potential for distributed or distance learning applications. The THEATRON project not only uses information technology to provide the back bone of its dissemination system but also to provide content for the application using 3D models to recreate the sites, explore them in real-time and illuminate the narrative with engaging photo-realistic stills and animations. One of the fundamental concepts behind the THEATRON application is the principle of taking the user from a passive role to an active one where the user changes to a participant within the space itself. The challenge has been to find and develop a platform that will support this idea and combine with the other technologies proposed for the application to utilise in order to provide the user with an affordable, usable and cohesive interface. All this and the requirement for distribution across the world wide web. The THEATRON consortium started by reviewing and selecting those technologies that were available, affordable and would fulfil the requirements of interactivity and distribution. The project team took a two fold approach to the problem. Firstly each site selected would need to have a 3D navigable environment that would provide the primary interface for the user to discover information and reinforce the learning process. Second to this the whole application would need a framework on which to hang each of the individual site models to interconnect data resources and provide a unified interface to the end user. The first solution was to identify the technologies available and sustainable to provide the user with content and access. After a wide survey of such technologies at the start of the project in 1998 three core technologies were settled upon. These were Apple Macintosh’s QuickTime (which would support animations, and QuickTime VR rich media), Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 5 (which would provide the graphical, textural and acoustic support, as well as providing the backbone of the development platform) and open standard VRML (Virtual Reality Modelling Language) as a basis for the component site modules. In back end support the 3D modelling application 3D Studio Max was selected for producing the reconstructions of the identified sites and generating stills, animations and the basis for the VRML files. The second solution required the creation of a “backend” tool to permit easy authoring or uploading of data and resources to the application. This was achieved by creating a structured XML database with a user friendly front end. This flexible solution was developed with the concept strongly borne in mind that the content could be extended to include more sites as the application grew providing a sustainable growth for the project resources. Indeed one of the great attractions of the authoring environment is that it is simply a framework within which any subject matter related to 3D objects could be placed; not only places of performance. Beyond the ultimate creation of the application IT played a strong role in the scenes behind the project. Because the partners were distributed around Europe (and in some cases beyond) simple but often neglected IT was employed to facilitate communication between all parties. The project relied heavily on the use of e-mail and file sharing to keep everyone up to date with progress reports, technical briefings, and resource scheduling, this combined with the use of the project web site ensured that everyone was using the most timely information and maximising the available resources to the best of their ability. User trials in the Netherlands and the UK have shown that users, especially the younger target audience (the undergraduate audience) have found the transition to working with the 3D interface relatively easy. More mature users have a steeper learning curve but each age and skill group tend to find and use the interface navigation form that suits them best. A user-manual has been prepared which introduces both the ideas and pedagogical concepts informing the programme and its modes of operation and functions, and details how to access and employ them. Whist the technology employed does not present society with new challenges, the concept of the delivery and utilisation does. The application will provide the challenge for educators to capitalise on student centred learning and distance learning approaches if they are to maximise the potential of the application and ultimately the pool of students from which they can draw.
	Features and functionalities Virtual reality, which for the members of the THEATRON Consortium was essentially a sophisticated use of advanced computer modelling in the service of a specific research and pedagogical agenda is able to build upon traditional theatre-historical research and teaching, while greatly extending it. Using it, it ought to be possible to exploit available and emerging technical media to develop a methodology that enables scholars and students to assemble and manipulate categories of data and evidence (e.g. sight-lines, movement, acoustics, lighting) which are the essential constituent elements of theatre, but which traditionally have been difficult to manipulate or synthesise for scholarly analysis. In the virtual performance space, stage architecture, performance, scenery, and lighting can be combined in order to simulate what was effectively lost after the original event took place. There is no other medium that can recreate this synergy as effectively as VR, combined with other multimedia that new information communication and technologies are making available. The THEATRON Project has completed its creation of a prototype inter-active multimedia software computer application for teaching and learning theatre history. It consists of some twenty highly detailed, 3D models of historic European theatres, each of them contextualised using a wide variety of graphic and textual materials and information. Users can read critical studies of the spaces by the academic authors but, crucially, can also access and evaluate for themselves the evidence on which the 3D reconstructions are based. Within the program, therefore, users can, for each of the historic theatres: ° sift through primary research materials such as letters, critical descriptions, architectural texts, sketches, drawings, paintings ; ° read and view a selection of secondary sources, including e.g. scholarly texts and commentaries, previous drawings and depictions of the site.; ° examine 2D depictions illustrating the structural components of a theatre building (ground plans, cross sections, diagrams explaining such things as the iconographic program); ° study informative contemporary materials (pictures of the present site, reports on archaeological digs and so on); ° consider the relation of the theatre to its surroundings (where was it located in the city? was it a public or private theatre?); ° examine the theatre's layout, structuring and interdependence of primary space (stage, auditorium) and secondary spaces (stairways, foyers, backstage areas, and the like); ° where appropriate assess the decorations and meaning of the iconographical scheme and décor; ° analyse the structure terms of references it makes to different types of architecture and/or previous periods of theatre history; ° for some sites (such as the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens, for which three models were prepared) viewers can compare and contrast how the space evolved over a long period of time; ° as detailed below, for some sites, the acoustical qualities may be experienced. Moreover these theatres are linked together in such a way that the users of the module are encouraged to make comparisons and trace historical developments in European theatre as this evolved and was shaped by various, successive cultures. The module uses as it core, and the basis for organising all of the supporting data, the 3D models prepared for each of the sites. The architecture of each site is both illustrated and may be interactively explored through the provision of the 3D computer models. For each site, a highly detailed model was created based upon the best and most up to date scholarly knowledge or opinion -- from which both still images showing the architectural elements have been derived, as well as animations enabling the viewer to take a general orientational "tour". In addition, for each site a VRML (Virtual Reality Modelling Language) model was prepared, which can be interactively explored in real time by the user, who can navigate the site using the computer mouse. The module as a whole might be thought of as a sort of educational virtual theme-park in which the user can visit individual theatres from different historical periods, presenting different varieties of theatre, but can also obtain an important sense of the "genealogy-tree" of the European theatre as this evolved and was shaped by various, successive cultures. The Theatre Sites The Project chose to model particularly influential or historically important European theatre sites to evoke the ambient qualities of each site, as well as its place in the evolution of theatre architecture and consequent theatre practice. From a pedagogical perspective, this is immensely valuable, since it allows each of these historic spaces to be examined and experienced as space, rather than merely as an abstract or described phenomenon. This in turn, enables students to explore a great variety of theatre-historical questions, and the accompanying materials (including specific questions which users are invited to address as they inter-actively investigate a particular site) have been chosen to assist this process. Theatre buildings and the activities contained within them developed over time, and new structures or modifications to existing ones were reactions to existing practice coupled with ideas about the need for change and the evolving role of theatre within diverse European societies. However, in this respect it should also be noted (and the module is able to highlight this), that theatre and theatre architecture were often pan-European phenomena - the same architects and theatre makers were frequently employed all over Europe by a ruling class that in its cultural endeavours was, and perhaps still is, more internationally oriented than locally. Having established the rough outlines of such a genealogy tree of the European theatre, the module can subsequently add new branches ¡V presenting new theatres to complement the major ones that serve as important nodes from which European theatre history may be accessed (cf. Table 1). All of the questions about the material aspects of theatres (very effectively evoked and illustrated by both the models and supporting data in the module) contribute to addressing a broader, overarching research question, viz: how does historical theatre architecture, and such things as scenic décor, lighting, and acoustics, reflect and refract the cultural, aesthetic, ideological discourses in which they are implicated? How did changes in theatre spaces over time reify cultural, aesthetic and ideological changes? Our work has been predicated upon the belief that investigations into the material conditions of performance are no less important or revealing for the historical study of the performing arts than analyses of the performances themselves. Hence, investigation of historical performance and performance spaces as material phenomena cannot be divorced from investigation of them as cultural (e.g. political and ideological) phenomena. To take a single example. The Project enables the user to "visit" the Odeon of Agrippa, and follow this with a visit to the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, constructed almost 2,000 years later. Both sites (entirely coincidentally, since Wagner knew nothing about the Agrippa site) are remarkably similar in size, spatial organisation and layout, and sightlines. Apparently, some similar pragmatic material concerns, produced similar solutions. And yet, on closer examination of factors such as the décor of the structures, their respective uses, and relationship to other contemporaneous theatre structures, the two sites can be positioned and understood, and their respective meanings far better perceived than description or argument could ever achieve. Similar insights readily emerge by comparing, for example, the Theatre of Pompey, and Palladio's (and his successor Scamozzi's) Renaissance attempt to create a Roman, Vitruvian theatre in the Teatro Olimpico at Vicenza. A visual dialogue is established between the material characteristics of the two sites, which in turn provokes questions about important differences such as the role of theatre and performance in diverse societies, the cultural and ideological positioning of theatre as a practice and an institution, the role of patronage, and the type of performances each society considered appropriate for presentation in these spaces, and why. Such achievements of The THEATRON Project to date have considerable importance. The development ab initio of a highly sophisticated, flexible, web-delivery system, and the creation of high-quality, multiple-format, multimedia materials for theatre historical research, embodies a significant degree of acquired expertise within the Consortium into advanced issues and practices regarding digital dissemination. The dominant elements (in this case pedagogical and mnemonic) have proven a sound basis for further development of digital dissemination and development of theatre historical investigation. The THEATRON Project has involved us in carefully questioning how digital texts are "read" by users within academic contexts, and the implications of this for how we "write" them. User testing continues to increase our understanding of this, and in turn we are able to incorporate this feedback into the module. Didactic Aspects: The navigatable 3Dimensional THEATRON models had to be integrated into a learning module in such a way that they are more than mere illustrations. After all, one of the characteristics of the application is that it aims not to deliver lessons in a traditional manner to an essentially passive student, but instead wants students to learn by discovery ¡V they should be able to explore the different theatres more or less on their own volition, following their own perceptions and interests, as in effect they interrogate the module, formulating their own questions and being stimulated to find their own answers. How can this "discovery" learning envisaged by the THEATRON module be encouraged? From educational use and feedback so far it is obvious that simply presenting students with a 3D model and some additional material is not sufficient. Learning will not take place "by itself" but only when the approach of the course is carefully tailored to the needs, capacities and skills of the students. In other words: what one needs is a clear perception of the didactic aspects of the application. Educational goals and environment: Because the target group of THEATRON consists of university students there are -in the view of the designers of this program- two fundamental educational goals to be met. One of them is, of course, knowledge on theatre history in Europe. As outlined above particular theatres and their development should be introduced to the students who then can become aware of the important characteristics of these venues. But there is another goal that may be even more important from an educational point of view: the students need to learn how to do research. This is an important element in their university training and experience. The student of theatre history should not just acquire factual knowledge but beyond this he or she should learn how to weigh these facts, how to critically evaluate existing interpretations of these facts, how to confront conflicting evidence, and how to come up with meaningful questions and methods of answering them. In short: theatre departments, in common with other disciplines need to train and produce good scholars, not just individuals capable unreflectively, of repeating the facts found in textbooks. Consequently, in the THEATRON module scholarly controversies are neither resolved nor covered up. The student is not simply presented with a reconstruction showing what an historical theatre exactly looked like ¡V rather, when things are unclear or when there are debates on general outlook or specific features of the theatre buildings, this is explicitly underscored. The importance of this should not be overlooked. Because current technology can generate powerful and persuasive illusions, the danger is that one all too easily accepts our computerised, highly plausible 3D reconstructions as the historic truth, forgetting how much speculation often lies behind them. To counteract that danger it is paramount to draw attention to the original material on which a reconstruction is based, to point to uncertainties and to stimulate students to consider alternative solutions. A digital model that is the means and outcome of a scholarly programme of research into a historical performance space is, at its simplest, a critical "text." No different, in this respect, from a scholarly article or book, it embodies within it the combined cultural, material, ideological and methodological processes that have gone into its creation. The work of the THEATRON Project was designed to yield scholarly "texts" in digital form that clearly establish, as do traditional critical texts, their relationship to the state of scholarship prior to themselves, and display what they do and do not assert or seek to demonstrate. Digital modelling of historical spaces requires us to make interpretative decisions. By publishing our sources alongside our conclusions, we enable others to consider whether the latter are convincingly founded. It is also important to bear in mind the educational environment THEATRON is designed for. Often it is asserted that one of the primary benefits of IT applications such as THEATRON is that students are freed from time and place, that they can learn at a distance, where and whenever they want, at their own pace and tailored to their own, personal needs. However, the designers of THEATRON felt that we must not ignore the traditional university environment developed over many years with precisely the goal of effective and thought-provoking teaching as it purpose. In that environment there is personal eye-to-eye contact between teachers and students and there are lectures presenting the student with live examples of how to deal with the materials and questions of an academic discipline. Of course an important element in the environment is facilitating access to other scholars and their writings past and present: the library, textbooks and syllabi are the traditional means efficiently to deal with this requirement, and recently these have been supplemented by electronic technologies providing easy communication with the outside world - especially with other libraries and with the web. Traditional elements also include the exams and assignments that provide teacher and students with vital feedback on how the latter is progressing. And, last but certainly not least, the university environment is characterised by fellow students: peers who function as sparring partners in one's academic career and who are vital to generate and maintain the scholarly debate so essential to any academic discipline. It is probably the live contact with these fellow students and with the teachers that, more than anything else, shapes the educational environment of a university. Getting feedback on a paper or having a discussion in a classroom setting (with an experienced teacher as moderator) really can not be surpassed when it comes to practising the primary skills of academic research: presenting and debating one's findings in an orderly and controlled manner. But if the university as sketched here is a worthwhile educational environment - and the makers of THEATRON believe it has proven itself over the centuries - an IT application should be thought of as an additional asset to this environment, and not as a replacement of it. In other words: the THEATRON project should take into account existing circumstances and, rather than attempting to be a stand alone application that provides the student with everything, should acknowledge that it will frequently function in conjunction with a university library, with classes, lectures and teachers, with assignments and with fellow students. Content: Having established the goals and the educational environment of THEATRON we will now take a somewhat closer look at the content material of the module, seeing how it is structured and embedded within the actual module and how it relates to the educational ambitions. The content material then is divided into two main divisions: ° general information categories that are essentially the same for each of the theatres and ° specific information that pertains to a particular theatre and its characteristic features. An analogy with an elaborate bibliography might clarify this somewhat. The first category of information would be the entries that are given for every book, such as author, title, date, publisher etc. In the second category then would fall specific remarks on the publications; such as a short description of the contents, a summary of a review, etc. With the THEATRON project the first division (general information categories) has been divided further into information that is incorporated in the navigatable 3D models themselves and information that accompanies each of these models. The former essentially comprises the advantages of an architectural model over traditional 2D educational means of the sort noted earlier: - outside and inside of a building can be accessed - relationship between secondary and primary spaces becomes clear - relationship of stage and auditorium can be explored - sightlines can be evaluated for every seat - technical apparatus of a theatre is indicated - the (human) scale of a venue can be experienced - hierarchy and permeability of spaces are clarified The information that accompanies the models comprises categories that are the same for each theatre and that are called upon separately by use of a pull down menu. Here one finds additional detailed information under headings such as maps (of the surrounding space, ground plan, cross sections, etc.), historical description (text on the building of the theatre and its subsequent development) and present site (with pictorial material on what the site looks like today). Also there are headings that directly relate to the academic resources on the theatre that a student might want to consider: bibliography and related websites. Finally there is a category with suggested tasks in which examples of research topics and assignments for papers can be found. These tasks are specifically designed to direct the student to look critically at the reconstruction and the materials it is based upon and/or to encourage the users to make comparisons with other venues. The second division contains the information that is particular to characteristic features of an individual theatre. This information is dynamically linked to the 3D models so that at certain points in these models -- the so called viewpoints -- it automatically comes on screen in a separate window (as long as this feature is enabled). Principally these viewpoints can be pre-programmed anywhere in the model and thus provide the opportunity to give access to multi media resources for any specific feature of a venue. For example, a viewpoint outside a theatre can give additional information on the façade and its iconographic program or can link to a video showing that same façade on a special occasion. Or, a viewpoint in the royal box might give access to a portrait and a biography of the patron ruler evaluating the use of theatre in his cultural policies. In some cases it is even possible to listen to audio files that simulate what a theatre sounded like at different viewpoints, so one can compare the acoustic qualities of the respective areas in a theatre. All in all then the 3D model and its viewpoints give the user an extensive impression of what a particular theatre looked like and what its specific features are about, while the general accompanying information enables one to quickly access information with regard to structure, historical development and academic resources of the venue.
	Educational approach of THEATRON; a general model of teaching and learning: Having discussed the educational environment of the THEATRON project and the structuring of its content material we now come to the question of how THEATRON will actually be used. What is the essential elements of education (in this case focused on theatre history) that underlie learning processes and how does THEATRON relate to them? A very general answer to the first question can be formulated thus: studying is the active appropriation of knowledge, skills and self-confidence, while teaching consists of supporting this learning process. But apart from stating that there is learning and teaching this answer really doesn't say very much. We need to specify more extensively what people do when they study or teach if we want to elaborate on THEATRON's underlying didactic approach. Table 2 therefore presents a general model of learning and teaching in which the dimensions that play a role in education are schematically worked out for both these sides. It starts with the notion that there are three important dimensions of any learning process: cognition, interest, and assessment/evaluation. For the student the first dimension - cognition -- has to do with acquiring knowledge of a subject and/or certain skills. It is the aspect of grasping and understanding the concepts that are involved, of being able to deal efficiently with the subject at hand and of mastering the problems of a field of knowledge. The second dimension -- interest -- concerns the motivational aspects of learning. Here one deals with such things as personal involvement and the arousal of curiosity. What motivates the student to put in time and energy? How important is learning about a certain topic to the experience of the individual? Finally, the third dimension -- assessment/evaluation -- encompasses those aspects concerned with feedback on how a student progresses. In any learning process one should have a clear idea on where one stands at any particular time. In other words: this dimension is about knowing what one knows and about the ability to evaluate one's progress with regard to a subject. On the learning side this clearly has to do also with self-confidence; with realising that you have mastered the subject to a certain degree, can skilfully handle the problems and operations belonging to that level of knowledge, and can evaluate whether or not you need/want to know more about the field of study. The three dimensions not only function on the learning side of the transaction, but also on the side of teaching. Each dimension brings with it certain aspects of teaching that in educational theory are seen as important elements facilitating the learning process. To assist with the cognitive aspects of that process a good teacher, course or textbook should structure the study material well; that is to say, that subjects are approached consistently and in a systematic manner. Explications that clarify difficult and complex topics in such a way that they can be grasped more easily also function on the cognitive level, as do instructions: clear indications (often accompanied by examples) of how a subject should be dealt with. In terms of the second dimension: all educators and pedagogical textbooks underline the prime importance of motivating pupils. Without instilling a certain drive in students the chances that any learning will take place are practically zero. Of course one can try to use negative motivation whereby the avoidance of punishment becomes the main reason to delve into a subject, but it is demonstrably far more effective to stimulate people in a more positive way -- trying to arouse their personal interest. In addition to stimulation, a key concept in regard to involving students with a subject is validation. This means that one has to clarify the importance of a subject within a curriculum. If one doesn't do that and students fail to understand why a topic is useful or how it fits in with the rest of their studies results will most certainly be a disaster. Traditionally the third dimension -- assessment -- is seen as the exclusive domain of the teacher and is associated more with control and testing to determine if any learning has taken place than as a means to facilitate the educational process. If however, one thinks of this dimension in terms of feedback, its importance to building self-confidence in mastering a subject becomes clear. The possibility of having "conversations" with the agent through whom the instruction is taking place during a learning process -- with appropriate opportunities for questions and remarks -- is probably where self-assessment begins. Simply being able to formulate a question is already a test on how well one has grasped a subject. In later stages there is eventually more dialogue and the exchange of ideas about the interpretation of a subject advances, ideally resulting in students coming to trust their knowledge and skills, and becoming more nearly equal partners with their teachers. Teaching with THEATRON Members of the Consortium analysed how different elements in the THEATRON Project module could be used to pursue and support possible strategies of teaching with it in an academic environment. Table 3 summarises some of the typical aspects of theatre historical teaching and shows how these can be linked to elements within the THEATRON module. Although the structuring of material of each theatre is similar, it may be accessed in a variety of ways, depending upon how the user enters the application and selects a theatre. A variety of approaches are possible, depending upon the nature of the teaching/learning experience that is desired. One can go either to: ° a timeline,; ° an alphabetic list,; ° a map of Europe showing the location of the venues; ° or use the typology, or genealogy as given in Table 1 to approach a venue. For the provision of explanatory material, the student can not only employ the textual information and the 3D but, in addition has access to the so called "Grand Tour" of a theatre: an introduction whereby the THEATRON user is led passively through the venue by the computer, visiting some of the more important viewpoints and getting a quick overview of the main topics. This feature comes closest to taking a "real time" guided tour in a real theatre. It should be noted parenthetically that an important element encouraging learning with the module is that because it is a sophisticated IT application, this in itself is a motivational factor for the many students who consider working interactively with computers as fun. In addition, within the application itself, there are functionalities that directly encourage the personal involvement of the students, such as the provision that a student may have a personal folder in which texts and photographs can be stored for later reference. Most of the other entries in the third column of table 3 have already been mentioned and because it is fairly obvious how they relate to the teaching aspects they do not need to be discussed further here. However, it should be noted that the university teacher plays an important role in all the main dimensions of the scheme. Not only should this teacher give instructions on how to use the THEATRON application but he or she is also responsible to a great extent for stimulation and validation -- after all, how THEATRON fits into the rest of the curriculum is up to the individuals or departments that will use the application. Finally conversation, interaction and feedback can only partly be provided by features of an IT application such as THEATRON; it remains up to the teacher and the fellow students to complement these features and to ensure that interactive discovery learning can take place. Future Plans: It has always been the intention that, following its initial development phase, the THEATRON module would grow quantitatively. The application software, through the Content Management System, allows us readily to add further sites and materials. It should be possible to add more theatrical elements to the architecture: sets, lighting, virtual actors, all of which can be manipulated by users, as these are developed and refined. In addition, it is our intention -- possibly with the aid of further assistance from The European Commission, or from other public or commercial entities -- to augment and enhance the module's functionality. Such developments might include: ° improving the VRML models and the Cosmoplayer plug-in so that fast broadband internet connection my enable us to realize the ideal of navigating the rendered, highly detailed 3D Studio Max models that are now used to generate stills and animations; ° another enhancement would be to allow more users to be simultaneously present as avatars in a theatre so they could communicate with each other, or could attend a seminar led by a tutor who is virtually present and can answer questions, not by e-mail but in "real time". The University of Warwick has already had extensive consultation with ParallelGraphics, the leading international company presenting web-based VRML applications, to explore how such functions could be developed for the module; ° add actors and scenery to our theatre models that can be moved by the users - using the application as a kind of "blocking device" whereby students could try out their own mise-en-scenes of past plays; ° add lighting facilities; ° have a more intuitive and "natural" interface to navigate the models; ° examine how the THEATRON application might be used at actual cultural heritage sites to provide the tourist/visitor with more information; ° have the THEATRON application available in different languages; the current emphasis on English is tangential to cultural heritage that emphasizes local traditions; ° Use the THEATRON application as a "portal" whereby present day theatre sites and cultural heritage sites all over Europe, and eventually, the World, are connected and can exchange information with each other/the public. Through collaboration with the University of Nottingham's Mixed Reality Laboratory, we have begun to "leverage" this work into an exciting new realm of theatre-historical research. We have experimented with placing "Virtual Performers" in historical performance spaces. Using the model of the Odeon of Agrippa in Athens, Nottingham have transformed this into a Virtual Performance Environment, and situated within the space a theatrical performance by two avatars, whose movements had been instantiated from a recording of live actors. In a series of exchanges and workshops we have identified the manner in which this initial research can be taken forward and are collaborating to obtain support. There are, potentially, a number of commercial options for the current THEATRON prototype, although before these could be realised certain further development and modifications to the existing prototype would have to be done, and, of course, financed. For example, ° the same system of architecture could be used for presenting new houses and related information (including their environment), to potential buyers; ° the environment could equally well be used for general training purposes in which 3D-technology is requested: motor engineers, maintenance technicians; ° within the Heritage Sector, any museum, gallery, or site, which was concerned with the study or presentation of physical (3D) artefacts or architecture, might find the THEATRON application an attractive medium for exploiting its particular field of interest. The application could be sold or licensed, or indeed, the particular institution might wish to directly commission new work to be prepared by members of the THEATRON team. In conclusion, the work of the Consortium has produced a prototype, which has great promise and potential; but for these to be realised, additional resources and support, must first be secured.
	The greatest challenge, as well as the greatest potential benefit of working in such a large scale collaboration which, by nature, is interdisciplinary in terms of its subject matter, diverse in the nature of its multimedia materials and output, international in its scope, and inter-institutional in terms of the nature of the participating partners, is that entirely new skills, methodologies, and modes of communication must be identified, co-ordinated, mastered, and integrated into a coherent programme of work. This is no easy task, and our work did not at all times go as smoothly or efficiently as the participants would have wished, or anticipated at the outset of their task. The need to understand and respond cooperatively to the working methods of such a range of colleagues has been intellectually and imaginatively stimulating, opening up new modes of perception and ways of thinking. For all of us it was at times a giddy learning experience. Only a few years ago, these people would have had little opportunity or reason even to discuss their work with one another, much less engage in a process of intensely creative collaboration. Moreover, as each collaborator’s work was integrated into the emerging module, traditional boundaries between data and interpretation, evidence and argument, researcher and technician, underwent rapid transformations. A major source of difficulty and anxiety arose from the fact that the programme of work, in retrospect, was overly ambitious, or, stated differently, under funded. In the end we did indeed accomplish most of what we originally intended, and did so without any significant delay; however this meant that each of the partners had to put in a very great deal of (unpaid) work beyond that supported by the EU grant-based budget. Maintaining both cooperative good will and morale under the twin pressures of a limited time frame (30 months) in which the work was scheduled to be carried out, and very tight finances, was a great challenge. However, all the Partners found the work stimulating, rewarding, and highly instructive, in many instances precisely because of its diverse and heterogeneous, and challenging nature. We were in the end caught up in the excitement and novelty of what we were doing, and this sense was encouraged and our morale boosted as, gradually, more and more colleagues viewed our emerging work with admiration and assured us that what we were doing would indeed make a significant contribution both to teaching in the discipline of theatre history, and, in due course to other image and object based subject areas. The Partners also recognised that in the future, increasingly, much of the most innovative and interesting work in the broad field of Information and Communication Technology, in which they are all participants, will demand precisely the type of skills, experience, and collaborative engagement which they encountered in the course of our work together. They have struggled with, and eventually overcome many hurdles, achieving a successful outcome for The THEATRON Project.