The project devises an interface which enables both the interactive exploration and narrative-driven presentation of 3D garment models, combining detailed annotations with fluid storytelling. Visitors can either engage passively by following a prepared narrative or actively examine specific highlights and features of the 3D model, fostering both guided and self-directed interaction.
Dress research draws on visual, documentary, and material evidence. Textiles as cultural artefacts though are challenging to exhibit, digitize and represent on the web, as they are fragile, rich in detail, vulnerable to light and often difficult to stabilize. This project takes up the challenge: in a collaboration between the Textiles, Clothing and Jewelry collection of Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nuremberg and the project Restaging Fashion, a total of fifteen historical clothing items were selected for digitization and published on Kompakkt.
While 3D model viewers, such as Kompakkt or the Smithsonian Voyager, offer a presentation and annotation mode, there is clearly a desideratum for a narrative attached to the 3D model. Envisioning a tool that enables a dynamic and fluid presentation of a 3D model combined with a narrative, we create a free and reusable interface that allows researchers, experts or laypeople to enrich a 3D model with information and embed it in a scenography that supports the narrative. The application 3D Stories allows different approaches: the user can either lean back and follow the story or select one of the highlights and be directed to the relevant paragraph. By using the ‘Explore’ button the user can roam the 3D model on his or hers own terms.
Credits and project partners
The project was implemented in a collaboration between the Centre for Contemporary and Digital History Luxembourg (C²DH) and the Urban Complexity Lab (UCLAB) at Potsdam University of Applied Sciences. Kirill Mitsurov and Daniele Guido (C²DH) created the interface and Sabine de Günther and Marian Dörk (UCLAB) provided the 3D models and content for the stories.
3D Stories is a freely reusable prototype based on open source software (React Vite, React Three Fiber, Theatre JS, Blender).