ARCH Seminar. Memory of the World

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Digital Heritage through VR and Generative AI

ARCH 7036-04/ARCH5051-04.Elective Theory Seminar, SAID, DAAP, Spring 2025

Class time: Monday. 10 am -12:50 pm.  Classroom: 4425-E, CGC Lab, DAAP building. 

Faculty: Ming Tang, Professor in Architecture and Interior Design, DAAP. Director of  Extended Reality Lab. XR-Lab

 

Seminar Description
This seminar invites students to explore the intersection of architecture, history, artificial intelligence, and immersive technology to reimagine the past through digital heritage. Using historic documents and archives from Cincinnati as reference, students will collaborate with historians to construct one Cincinnati street—enabling users to travel back in time and experience its stories through real-time visualization and extended reality (XR).

Throughout the semester, students will investigate how generative AI, virtual reality (VR), and interactive visualization can preserve and reinterpret cultural memory. Using Unreal Engine as the primary platform, participants will design interactive VR environments for mobile headsets, creating spaces where history, atmosphere, and narrative merge into immersive experiences. The seminar aligns with UNESCO’s  Memory of the World initiative, emphasizing the preservation of documentary and architectural heritage for future generations.

In addition to a large collaborative group project, each student will conduct a samll individual research-based design investigation focused on a “lost” historic artifact—such as a forgotten art work or street furniture. Through AI-assisted modeling, reality capture, and digital prototyping, students will gain hands-on experience reconstructing the intangible layers of history while developing advanced technical and conceptual skills in digital heritage creation.

Skills covered: Unreal Engine 5, Generative AI tools, Immersive VR development for Meta Quest

Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, students will be able to:

  • Explain how digital media shapes collective memory, fosters cultural understanding, and expands access to heritage across time and space.
  • Employ generative AI tools to create and refine architectural designs informed by reference data and contextual analysis.
  • Design and integrate high-fidelity virtual reality experiences and audio narratives to enhance spatial storytelling, deployed in the Meta Quest VR headset.
  • Critically analyze and articulate the workflows, challenges, and methodologies involved in digitally reconstructing historic architecture.
  • Develop a generative AI-assisted design project that augments and streamlines the 3D modeling process.

 

By Caroline McCarthy, DAAP, UC. 2024. Unreal Engine. 

Week 1 – Introduction: Digital Heritage + Course Overview

  • Lecture: Reimagining History through XR and AI
  • Discussion: Historic Cincinnati streets
  • Workshop: Overview of XR technologies, digital twins, and VR hardware (Quest 3 setup)
  • Assignment:  Group organization and individual task

Week 2 – Unreal Engine Foundations

  • Demo: Unreal Engine 5 interface, navigation, and project setup
  • Workshop: Basic environment creation, importing geometry, lighting & material setup
  • Lab: Create a small “street scene” with period references

Week 3 – 3D Assets & Historical References

  • Lecture: Historic Cincinnati
  • Workshop: Importing and optimizing 3D models (AI-generated meshes)
  • Lab: Build the base environment of a Cincinnati street block
  • Assignment: Collect historical images and create a 3D reference board

Week 4 – Generative AI for Architecture

  • Lecture: AI as a Co-Designer in Heritage Reconstruction
  • Demo: Nonbanana + Image/3D AI workflows for architectural texture and concept generation
  • Workshop: AI-to-Unreal pipeline — converting generated images into materials and assets
  • Lab: Generate building facades and signage using AI tools

Week 5 – Advanced Unreal Workflows

  • Lecture: Lighting, Atmosphere, and Period Reconstruction
  • Workshop: Mastering Lighting, Decal, and Quixel Megascans
  • Lab: Create environmental lighting that matches historical mood (day/night, fog, etc.)

Week 6 – Interactivity and Blueprints

  • Lecture: From Scene to Experience – Building Interaction in Unreal
  • Workshop: Unreal Blueprints for triggers, movement, and simple interactions
  • Lab: Create an interactive object or trigger zone (e.g., play sound)

Week 7 – Midterm Critique

  • In-class: Presentation of progress on group and individual projects
  • Peer + Instructor Feedback on historical accuracy, visual quality, and interactivity
  • Workshop: Optimize scenes for Quest VR performance

Week 8 – Audio, Narrative & Spatial Storytelling

  • Lecture: Sound as Memory – Integrating Audio Narratives
  • Workshop: Implement 3D spatial audio and voice narration in Unreal
  • Lab: Add sound cues tied to specific historical events or locations

Week 9 – VR Deployment for Quest

  • Workshop: Unreal project packaging and optimization for Meta Quest 3
  • Lab: Build and test interactive VR scenes on headsets
  • Debug session: Frame rate, lighting, and control issues
  • Milestone: Playable VR prototype

Week 10 -14 – working time

  • Workshop: Optimize lighting and build levels for immersive storytelling
  • Check-in: Instructor reviews individual and group progress
  • Lab: Full-scale integration – environment, audio, and narrative flow

Week 15 – Final Exhibition & Reflection

  • Public or in-class VR showcase: Historic Cincinnati in Virtual Reality
  • Final critique and documentation

Reference

Previos courses taught using Unreal Engine for VR

Publications