Virtual heritage interpretation through animated panoramic illustration of Kota Kuala Kedah

This paper is a study on the workflow of interpreting Malaysia's renowned historical heritage site through the use of animated panorama presented in a virtual environment. While most historical exhibits presented in a static visual manner, this research could enhance the way an interpretation of an historical site is perceived by adding `life' suggesting the essence of lost culture within a 360 virtual environment. Currently, the only recorded history of Kota Kuala Kedah is in the form of textual, old photos and outdated illustrations. Although it is considered one of the oldest Malay built fort, there has not been much recorded historical info of the fort. During its glory days, the fort was filled with various activities and had seen many bloodshed within its walls. However, what can be seen today is only a small museum in the middle of an empty field surrounded by reconstructed walls. Though many of local Kedah old folks still can tell a good story of the fort, younger generations today are unable to visually interpret what had happened inside the walls of Kota Kuala Kedah. Furthermore, the exhibits at the museum and the surroundings do not provide enough visual interpretation in describing the backstory of the fort. Thus, an interpretative illustration of this fort in its glorious days will be presented in an animated virtual tour that enables users to engage in an immersive experience, reflecting the culture that existed more than 200 years ago. This paper will discuss the visual interpretative process and technical legibility in creating such an artwork. The motivation of the paper is not just to preserve culture heritage, but to innovate some of the oldest visual interpretation methods presented through the latest trends of visual experience and technical capabilities. Through the animated panoramic illustration presented in an interactive way, viewers are able to immerse into the heritage events, breaking the boundary of any photography based virtual representation.