Animation in the process + Final Thesis

Territories of Value

A virtual treasure room for Siam

The Value theory compose of a range to understand how, why and to what degree people value things; whether the thing is a person, idea, object, or anything else.

This project aim to present the virtual treasure room for Siam, the collection of Thai heritage treasure. Giving the new experience of how the object virtually exhibit and kept in virtual age. This new inventive treasure room enhances the relationship between object and visitor. Different perspectives can be interpreted and presented according to the visitor’s evaluation of the value.

To evaluate and interpret the meaning of the value nowadays, we depend on the degree or amount of value that ties to human needs and wants, as well as memories.

What makes a thing valuable? And to whom? How do we keep, exhibit and protect valuable things? And who decides what makes a things valuable or not?

Evaluation of value has been extended from the range of individual personal level to the bigger scale of national level or cultural level, How does a culture agree on what is valuable and not? Example from the museums, the council meeting decision and voting process from the nominated treasures and collections made the criteria of choice.

The matter of fact and the matter of concern were taken a big part of how we perceive the value of the object. Bruno Latour mentioned about the value as matter of fact and matter of concern, example from the object, the matter of fact has it own limit of what it is and The matter of concern were extended out with how we visualize the object.

Thai heritage temple, Wat Ratchaburana, Ayutthaya, Thailand, is the most valuable Phra Prang in Thailand. It was built by King Chao Samphaya in 1424, with the specific purpose to kept the treasure and dedicated to his two brothers. The complexity of value through the layers inside, while approach into the treasure room create the hierarchy and the expression of the shell and the essence part inside Phra Prang. Today simple brick with simple ornament outside show the trace of past time, rich of ornaments with color, shape, form and material. Recently leaded people to the underestimated of the value, but once get inside Prang the value reveals itself through the treasure underneath. Express the different layers from outside surface with ornaments, along with the laterite brick structure and the treasure room innermost. Phraprang was to contain and protect the valuable treasure inside, while it can communicate and express value through the surface. Treasure is a concentration of riches and power, often one that is considered lost or forgotten until being rediscovered. The treasure inside was discovered by Silpakorn department and taken out into Chao Samphaya museum for its own safety and exhibition after a group of thief stole all the treasure. The treasure room today contains no treasure inside, but left the trace of Ayutthaya painting that symbolize the Buddha story.

Museum was extracts each object from its own original environment and transfer into the new site in the museum. All the treasure was kept inside a building in a room and in the glass box, which make people further away to approach and interact with the object through the glass surface.

Today much of value theory is scientifically study, recording what people do value and attempting to understand why they value it in the context of psychology, sociology, and economics.

The complexity of value that ties to our own perception and evaluation was experimented in the Papaya Warehouse, Bangkok. The experiment video shows the gather of antique object in the same splendid place, giving the new experience through the route in each step. The hierarchy shown through the categories of individual value, sociology value and economy value that represent in different hierarchy of information and graphic. Example from the chair, table and poster. Exploring the space inside. The route and the quality of attention, sequence of perception, scanning and looking with different kind of the object and try to extract the value behind it.

Who wants to see the treasures? And why? Why is it important to show and experience treasures of past time? Could be for national and cultural promotion or propaganda, could be for educational purposes, perhaps it could also be for sentimental and emotional reasons.

The value that ties to the memories, which empower the power through the vehicle as a treasure using by King Rama V. The Royal palanquin is now in Bangkok National Museum to communicate the power from the past Ayutthaya history to the present day, the value communicates through the materials and Thai ornaments that symbolize the monarchy. Another contemporary example that can compare with is “The Beast” President Barack Obama’s limousine. The Beast communicated the power through the shell as a skin to protect president inside, with the hidden specific function inside, it symbolize the democracy. Both object ornaments communicate the power and value through the median of the shell and skin of the surface.

As travel along the street, both objects signify the power and variety of value through the journey along the road. To communicate the value of both actual power and visual power, by the level change of the width and height of the road.

The space is to design the complexity in different scale, higher the road is higher actual power, wider of the road is the wider of the visual power. The visitor can experience all the information and meaning through the journey passing both objects along with the street environment from both sides.

The virtual grammars are representing time, location, history, distance, material and value. Also how both object perform and use with people in specific period.

In modern digital age, technology involved being a part of our precious value memories, through the picture and collection of data, bring back and recover to capture the moment anytime.

Leap motion glasses become the evaluation tools of Thai heritage treasure. Tracking the visitor motion and analyze in real-time, the glasses enable the user to see three-dimensional images which give an illusion of depth of perception. Body gesture sends signals to adjust the images seen by the user as they move around their environment.

Now we are able to visualize and interact with the treasure and becoming the part of their existing. This new revolution of dealing with treasures and heritage allows individuals and groups to interact with the objects, and nominate new ones.

In the virtual treasure room, visitors are able to see and interact with Thai heritage treasure that are nominated and voted from people. The collection of treasure located according to the time, location, and procedure complexity. Walking and looking around Phraprang with scatter of the treasure floating around and the collection of data attach to the treasure. Visitor can explore Thai heritage treasure by rotating object and looking through the different information of the specific treasure.

New and contemporary treasures nominated by the registered user. Only Thai register able to get inside the real treasure room one person at a time. Entering by an individual password in order to get inside. Interact with the virtual treasures, nominating and voting treasure would be base on the matter of fact and matter of concern. By voting and evaluating the object base on individual perception, voting criteria and popularity shown on the surface and covered the object.

The virtual treasure room will change the way of how people behave and perceive the collection of the Thai treasure, also contribute and develop new forms of relationship between people and object. Enhancing the collective of information and technology to promote the social dimension of a new digital creativity that link to the actual cultural treasure. Are you ready for the future?