acume2 meeting, warsaw

Arts and Humanities e-Science Support Centre

A new way of working: the UK Arts and Humanities e-Science Initiative

Stuart Dunn

AHeSSC

Centre for e-Research, King’s College London

Acume2 Meeting, Warsaw, 6 November 2007


‘The development and deployment of a networked infrastructure and culture through which resources - be they processing power, data, expertise, or person power - can be shared in a secure environment, in which new forms of collaboration can emerge, and new and advanced methodologies explored'

Arts and Humanities e-Science in the UK

- AHDS e-Science Scoping Study, 2006


Arts and Humanities e-Science in the UK

2005: AHRC-JISC e-Science Initiative begins

2006: - AHeSSC begins

- EPSRC joins initiative

- 3 small scale demonstrator projects funded by EPSRC

- 6 research workshops funded by AHRC

2007: 7 research projects and 4 PhD studentships announced


Arts and Humanities e-Science in the UK - 2006

Workshop projects (AHRC)

• User Requirements Gathering for the Humanities (Professor Alan Bowman, University of Oxford) • Geographical Information System e-Science: developing a roadmap (Dr Paul Ell, Queen’s University Belfast) • Performativity/Place/Space: Locating Grid Technologies (Dr Angela Piccini, University of Bristol )• The Access Grid in Collaborative Arts and Humanities Research (Professor David Shepherd, University of Sheffield) • Building the Wireframe: E-Science for the Arts Infrastructure (Dr Gregory Sporton, University of Central England)• ReACH: Researching e-Science Analysis of Census Holdings (Dr Melissa Terras, University College London)

Demonstrator Projects (EPSRC)

• Virtual Vellum: Online Viewing Environment for the Grid and Live Audiences (Professor PF Ainsworth, University of Sheffield)• A Virtual Workspace for the Study of Ancient Documents (Dr CV Crowther, University of Oxford) • Motion Capture Data Services for Multiple User Categories (Dr SJ Norman, University of Newcastle)

http://www.ahessc.ac.uk/projects


Arts and Humanities e-Science in the UK - 2007

•Helen Bailey: Relocating Choreographic Process: The impact of Grid technologies and collaborative memory on the documentation of practice-led research in dance

•Alan Bowman: Image, Text, Interpretation: e-Science, Technology and Documents

•Tim Crawford: Purcell Plus: Exploring an eScience Methodology for Musicologists

•Vincent Gaffney: Medieval Warfare on the Grid: The Case of Manzikert

•Sally MacDonald, E-Curator: 3D colour scans for remote object identification and assessment

•Julian Richards, Archaeotools: Data mining, facetted classification and E-archaeology

•monica schraefel, musicSpace: Using and Evaluating e-Science Design Methods and Technologies to Improve Access to Heterogeneous Music Resources for Musicology

http://www.ahessc.ac.uk/research-projects


Example 1: Virtual Vellum

Prototype manuscript viewer by Colin Dunn, Scriptura Ltd. Images © Stonyhurst College, Lancashire and Scriptura Ltd

The Froissart Chronicles. From ‘Incipit’ portal, Peter Ainsworth, Leverhulme Research Fellow and Director of the Froissart Chronicles Project. © Besançon Public Library (ms 865, f. 133v)


http://www.shef.ac.uk/hri/projects/projectpages/virtualvellum.htmlhttp:/ahessc.ac.uk/virtual-vellum




• Supports networks of very high resolution images

• Utilization of image tiling technologies and JPEG2000

• Scalable

• Collaborative - integration with Access Grid

• Extensible - can be applied to any area of research involving large or

hi-res images

• Project report http://www.ahessc.ac.uk/files/active/0/VV-report.pdf


Example 2: Medieval Warfare on the Grid: The Case of Manzikert

Battle of Manzikert - 1071 AD



Geospatial methods and agent-based approach


Placename-related entities

Named places

Relative distance references

Feature types



• Agent-based approach

• Integration of GIS data and ABM

• Aggregation of data from multiple sources in heterogeneous data formats

• Simulation *not* reconstruction


• Requires HPC infrastructure and ‘big data’ capacity

• Project website: http://www.arch-ant.bham.ac.uk/research/fieldwork_research_themes/projects/logistics/Manzikert/Index.htm (or Google for medieval warfare Manzikert)


Example 3: Associated Motion Capture User Categories

“a prototype data retrieval tool, allowing movement features or sequences to be called up from a motion capture database”


Example 3: Associated Motion Capture User Categories

• Ultra-sensitive method of capturing dance movement

• Involved a huge range of collaborators

• The project was built around a dialogue between CS experts and performance researchers

• Information retrieval

• Project report: http://www.ahessc.ac.uk/files/active/0/VWSAD-report.pdf


Co-directors

Research Associates

Lorna Hughes Sheila Anderson

Tobias Blanke Stuart Dunn


Support, co-ordinate and promote e-Science in all arts and humanities disciplines, and to liaise with the e-Science and e-Social Science communities, computing, and information sciences.

AHeSSC:


Practical assistance and liaison

• Helpdesk function

- [email protected]

• Other national support services

• Access Grid Support Centre

• National Grid Service

• National Centre for e-Social Science

• National e-Science Centre

AHRC/EPSRC funded activities

Other projects/centres of activity

• Information on funding opportunities:


http://www.arts-humanities.net

Torsten Reimer, Methods Network


http://www.ahds.ac.uk/ictguides


• M. Hedges: Grid enabling humanities datasets

• N. Gold: Opportunities for A&H and Service Oriented Architecture and Web Services

• D. Shepherd & A. Prescott: Methods and Technologies for Enabling Virtual Research Communities

• P. Ainsworth & M. Meredith: The Virtual Vellum project

• A. Piccini: Performing in virtual venues

• H. Denard: The London Charter and e-Science visualization

• G. Sporton: E-Science and Performance

• J. Garces & G. Bodard: Collaborative text editing and annotating

• S. Jeffrey: Aspects of Space and Time in Humanities e-Science


eSI THEME 7 Lectures (April-July 2007)

-April 30th: Opening lecture: Sheila Anderson (AHeSSC)

-June 18th: Methods and Technologies for Enabling Virtual Research Communities

-June 19th: Ontologies and Semantic Interoperability for Humanities Data

-June 20th: Collaborative Text Editing

-July 2nd: Grid Enabling Humanities Datasets

-July 6th: E-Science and Performance

-July 23rd: Aspects of Space and Time in Humanities e-Science

http://www.ahessc.ac.uk/theme


eSI THEME Training

• What?

• Why?

• How?

• Postgraduates and

researchers


[email protected]@kcl.ac.uk

020 7848 1975 / 2709

www.ahessc.ac.uk

AHDS26 - 29 Drury Lane

KCLLondon WC2B 5RL

acume2 meeting, warsaw

Technology

escience design methods

esocial science communities

ahrcjisc escience initiative

research projects

uk arts

university of newcastle

university of sheffield

earchaeology monica