The Resources

As mentioned in the previous post, the virtual museum will mainly focus on the Chinese blue and white porcelains. But I couldn't find much info on the Desaru Shipwreck. The resources (history, textures, measurements, etc.) would be a problem for me. I went to the bookstore in the Muzium Negara, hoping to get some useful books.

And I found these 3 books that are related to what I want to do. But guess what, they are seriously very very very very very expensive!!!!!
1. The Wanli Shipwreck and Its Ceramic Cargo - RM280
2. Maritime Archaeology and Shipwreck Ceramics in Malaysia - RM230
3. Mysteries of Malaysian Shipwrecks - RM120

I can really felt a pain in my heart when I saw the prices... It's hurt you know? Gotta tighten my belt... T_T

If I am rich, I gonna buy 3 of them. Yea, only if I am rich. But I am just an ordinary student who has spent all the extra allowance that was earned during the intership lol... So after flipped through the books, I came into a conclusion.

"Let's be specified, and focus only on the Wanli Shipwreck!!! All of the resources that you need are in that book. Yes, ALL-IN-ONE!!! Though it's the most expensive among all, but you just need to spend RM 280 instead of RM630. Banzai~!!!"

So there you go~ My very first investment for this FYP.
You can have a look of its contents here.

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Thanks to my sis again, who "gosok" the credit card on behalf of my daddy.
Thanks to my daddy who is always the investor and supporter of my projects.

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So Jun, you have made the very first step, and you know there is no turning back! Give all your best to this project. You know there are people that you can't disappoint, don't you?

The theme of the virtual museum

After my visits to the Muzium Negara, there are 2 themes that I think could be used as the focus of my virtual museum.
1. The wood carving of Orang Asli
2. The Chinese porcelains from shipwreck

Well, I am more interested in arts and that's why I believe I could do a better job with these themes.

Ok, so about the wood carving of Orang Asli, their attraction is that, each and every of the "patung" actually has a myth or story behind it. And, I found that it would be interesting to use the patung as a medium for the users to know about the culture of Orang Asli. HOWEVER, the problem is... Somehow, yes, somehow, I am a bit afraid of those patung... Some of the patung are related to their beliefs and rituals, and I could somehow felt their "aura". I am not trying to be silly but it's true, they made me feel that I must take them serious and never ever offend them or I'd be cursed! ...something like that... @@" This is just my personal feeling, no offense, k? I don't even dare to take some photos of the patung. Who knows if some strange things would appear in the photos???

Since there is an indestructible barrier in between the wood carving and I, I guess I shall give up on this. So, let's move on to the Chinese porcelains.

The Chinese porcelains that are displayed in the museum are discovered in the Diana/Desaru Shipwreck. What attracted me is the very detailed decoration of the blue and white porcelains. I just love those Chinese arts that have special motifs behind them.

And while viewing these porcelains, my mind started to visualize the scene where under the deep deep sea, everything seems to be blueish, and with very low visibility, a shipwreck is found... I don't know, this kind of vision just automatically formed in my mind during that moment. And so, I snapped my finger, that's it! The exhibits in my virtual museum would be the Chinese porcelains!

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Thanks to my dear sister who is
- the driver that brought me here and there for site visiting
- the company that discussed with me during the visit to museum
- the photographer that helped me to "record"

Some Info?

Name: Wong Yee Jun

ID: 1051100629

Title: Virtual Museum

Description:
The virtual museum is mainly focus on the Wanli Shipwreck and its ceramic cargos. It combines the characteristic of both the museum and gallery. As a museum, it tells the history and information about the maritime trade, ship, porcelains and so on. As a gallery, it provides larger circular space, while each and every one of the exhibits is treated as a piece of art. Besides being displaced in a clean and huge hall, some of the porcelains are submerged in the water, where the users get into underwater scene and discover the shipwreck ceramics which are yet to be recovered.

Keywords:
Museum, underwater, porcelains

Objective:
To give the users a different experience which they could not get from visiting to an ordinary museum.

Communicate:
- The design of the museum
- The exhibits (porcelains)

Experience Goal:
- Helpful
- Satisfying
- Memorable

Mind Map

Things that need more details:
1) Target Audience
2) The layout of the museum

Gantt Chart

Project Management Initial Document

Visit to Muzium Negara

The exhibition is different from what I have seen last year, and is different from what is stated in the official website. (the site is not updated...sigh...)

Will update more about my experience later...

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The main theme for my VR application
This it my main problem now as I still can't decide on it.
But what I wish to do the most, is to create a VR application which allowed the users to discover the artifacts inside a shipwreck.

The Resources
In the museum galleries, I could only found some exhibits which are a collection of porcelains that was found in Diana vessel. Besides, I found some books which could be used as reference in the small bookstore at the museum. However, they are quite expensive as they cost from RM100 - RM280.

How It Started...

Monday, 10 Nov 2008

I was assigned with "Virtual Museum" as the title of my Final Year Project, and was given a day to prepare a new proposal for it... was really helpless and puzzled...


Tuesday, 11 Nov 2008

Actions that I took to prepare the 1st proposal:
1) Review the photographs that I have taken during my last visit to Muzium Negara in 2007
2) Browse through Muzium Negara official website
3) Google "virtual museum"

Problems that I discovered:
1) Things that are exhibited in a museum could be very broad. I need to decide a theme, a main focus for my virtual museum.
2) The resources of my information
3) The final outcome of the virtual museum would be a supplementary or a substitute.