VIRTUAL HERITAGE CAIRO

Collaborative Network for Cultural-feed of Virtual Heritage (CfVH)

platforms of medieval Cairo

PRACTICAL PROJECTS AND TRAINING

GUIDE

www.virtualheritagecairo.com

VIRTUAL HERITAGE CAIRO

Collaborative Network for Cultural-feed of Virtual Heritage (CfVH) platforms of medieval Cairo

PRACTICAL PROJECTS AND TRAINING GUIDE

SPONSORS

ARTS AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH COUNCIL (AHRC)

Grant Ref: AH/N009347/1

PARTNERS

National Research Institute of

Astronomy and Geophysics

www.virtualheritagecairo.com

ABOUT VHC
VIRTUAL HERITAGE CAIRO is the Digital and
Online platform of the International Collaborative
Network for Cultural-feed of Virtual Heritage (CfVH)
platforms of medieval Cairo. The network focuses
on the potentials of reducing technical limitations
and addition of sub-grid cultural terrains to attain a
degree of reality and photorealism of culture as a
measure for virtual environments; leading towards
the amorphous nature of history. This VHCNetwork supports the growing digital heritage sector
in Egypt and the Middle East and organises a series
of engagement activities and databases that bring
together projects, specialist research institutes and
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to technically-able entrepreneurs and researchers.
The CfVH collaborative network will develop projects and activities that focus on undertaking creative and practice-led research on imaging cultural
heritage in Virtual Heritage. It will support young
researchers, entrepreneurs to engage with innovative technological industry and inform policy makers
and online tourism industry on the advantages of
virtual heritage.
The project is funded by the Arts and Humanities
Research Council (AHRC: Grant AH/N009347/1) as
a collaborative effort between several British and
Egyptian Research Institutions and specialist consultants that include: Digital Heritage Unit at the
University of Wolverhampton (UK) and the National
Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics.

(NRIAG; EGYPT). The Project is undertaken in

association with Ironbridge International Research
Institute of Cultural Heritage at the University of
Birmingham, Queens University Belfast, Soluis-Heritage-UK, and Egypts Ministry of State for Antiquities (Egypt).
AIM AND OBJECTIVES
This Network aims to develop a series of collaborative events, training activities and fact-finding
research into the possibility and opportunities for
digitising the socio-cultural heritage of Old Cairos
hawaris (local alleyways) everyday life through virtual modelling of its physical settings supplemented
by archival data, digital contents mined from cinema productions, televised reports and interviews
with ordinary residents during the first half of the
Twentieth Century. It is designed to achieve the
following objectives:

Building a network of effective partnerships
and database of expertise and projects in the field
of Virtual modelling of medieval cities built and
cultural heritage

Identifying best-practice platforms of digital
and virtual modelling of historic sites in Old Cairo
that support the incorporation and representation
of cultural data and Historic material.

Identifying suitable interdisciplinary methodologies that offer inventive opportunities for
visualising medieval cultural productions and bring
cultural traditions, values and ideology (religious/
non-religious) into life on virtual and augmented
reality platforms.

Disseminating the needs for innovative
platforms of heritage preservation in light of the
political and security instability in the region and
endangered heritage sites.

study of the project must be presented in the Project business plan that should be produced by the
team, before commencing.

ABOUT THIS GUIDE

PRACTICAL PROJECTS AND TRAINING WOKRSHOPS GUIDE
Virtual Heritage Cairo (VHC) Network endeavour to
support Egyptian Early Career Researchers (ECRs),
entrepreneurs, and young professionals to develop
practical skills, research-led creative and experimental projects necessary to establish successful and
sustainable start-up enterprises that in the field of
Virtual Heritage that contribute to abd be part of
the future preservation of Medieval Cairo Heritage.
The Network will support innovative and creative
projects that document, preserve and introduce
novel platforms of engagement with Medieval
Cairos heritage that enable interactive and virtual
experiences for local, public and global audience.
It aspires to help groups of young to engage in
practice-led, research-informed teamwork that is
interdisciplinary, innovative and productive. In total,
we anticipate supporting the progress of Six Practical Projects, based on reliable and well-studied
business plan.
In collaboration with the Ministry of Antiquities, University of Wolverhampton (UoW), National Research
Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics (NRIAG),
and other partners in Cairo, Practical projects and
skill-training workshops will take place over the
coming 6 months the following Procedures:
STEP ONE: Choose/ Develop PROJECT PLAN
Each Team will select either one of the projects that
we aim to progress, in collaboration with the Ministry of Antiquities, or develop their own project plan.
Below, we identified 4 Project sites that we agreed
with the Ministry to support. In addition, teams can
choose to develop their own projects, but must
supply a topic and brief overview on what they will
develop. Each Team will have to develop a Project
Business Plan and Feasibility Study in each project
The Projects to be supported:
Project One: Site of Sultan Hassan Mosque and
Madrassa [Interactive Virtual Environment platform
for On-line Exploration]
This aims to develop a creative and hybrid environment that engage global audience with the marvels,
scale and history of Sultan Hassan Mosque, through
navigation, move through and have focal points of
attraction. Detailed plan, strategy and feasibility.

Project Two: Site of Bayt AlSuhaimy and Haret

AlDarb Al-Asfar [Interactive Virtual Environment
platform for On-line Exploration]
This project aims to create Virtual tour of the alleyway that navigate through Bayt AlSuhaimys main
wings (Qaas). This project could engage the haras
main space through Augmented Reality, 360 Video/ Photography, and allow for online interface to
navigate from one room to another. Detailed plan,
strategy and feasibility study of the project must be
presented in the Project business plan that should
be produced by the team, before commencing.
Project Three: Site of Souk Al-Khayamiyyah and
Bab Zuwailah [Virtual Experience of historic market
activities platform for On-line trade]
This project aims to reconstruct the site virtually to
allow local shops to market their projects online,
through photo-realistic models of existing shops,
but in historic context. This project can benefit
from the availability of several historic paintings on
the carpet trade in Medieval Cairo. Detailed plan,
strategy and feasibility study of the project must be
presented in the Project business plan that should
be produced by the team, before commencing.
Project Four: Reproduction of Hamam Al-Tanbalis
environments in Virtual modes
In collaboration with Mimar Architects, Prof. Dalila Elkerdany, the Ministry of Antiquities and other
partners, this project aims to reproduce the Hammam and its experiences virtually and allow people
to navigate through its spaces and experience the
historic Hammams in Cairo. Detailed plan, strategy
and feasibility study of the project must be presented in the Project business plan that should be
produced by the team, before commencing.
Project Five: Free Choice of Project Teams, subject
to satisfactory plan
For this free-choice option, interested team needs
to provide an initial and brief proposal (1- 2 A4
pages), summarizing what they need to creatively
produce in the given timescale.
Detailed plan, strategy and feasibility study of the
project must be presented in the Project business
plan that should be produced by the team, before
commencing.
Project Six: Free Choice of Project Teams, subject to
satisfactory plan
For this free-choice option, interested team needs
to provide an initial and brief proposal (1- 2 A4
pages), summarizing what they need to creatively

www.virtualheritagecairo.com

STEP TWO: FORM A QUALIFIED PROJECT TEAM

STEP THREE: PREPARE A BUSINESS PLAN

Each Project would require an extended team of 5-8

members that have a range of knowledge and skills.
Ideally, but not exclusively, each team requires:

Each team must undertake preliminary research of

the project site, historic background information,
and potential technologies, techniques and platforms of creative Virtual Environments they use.

1-2 Researchers that collect data, drawings, historic

information about the buildings/ sites/ activities,
and write the project report, business plan and feasibility study (who will benefit from this project and
how??)
1 Professional photographer who can record and
document the building/site through extensive HD /
HQ professional photography, and use of 360 imagery for hybrid interactive viewing.
2-3 Technical-led members with extensive knowledge of how to scan, survey and process graphic
models of virtual reality that will handle the Cad
Files and process them through VR packages (C4D,
3DS,..etc.)
1-2 Multi-media/Online software experts to be able
to process produced models and media for online-edited display.

Each team must produce a mandatory Business Plan

and Feasibility Study for a project timescale of initial
One-Year, including involved resources, research
material, stakeholders and beneficiaries, and how
the project would produce income/ profit. This Plan
needs to show how they will carry out this project
given available resources and timescale.
This plan needs to include each team members
basic expertise and skills and their role in the team.
It should also give an account on what is the nature
of the creative product to be developed and who
will be benefit from it.
This plan should not exceed 4-5 A4 pages, which
will be received by the project team and confirmation of acceptance/ rejection/ clarifications required
will be communicated to the team within two weeks
of its receipt.
The Business Plan would normally respond to one
of the main project topics/ themes highlighted
above, or could be a different topic that generate
an innovative Virtual Heritage interactive media.

Training
The VHC Network will offer 2 Workshop Training
Sessions (Workshop C- Cairo; and Workshop D
Wolverhampton) of 4/5 days each on how to process Laser-scanned buildings into 3D models (Stage
1) and how to process and render the models into
VR interface (Stage 2). The First workshop will take
place by 19-22 Sept 2016, in Cairo to support chiefly technical teams who are working on VR models
of historic buildings and those who are working on
processing their scanned datasets.
The Second Workshop will take place in Wolverhampton (UK), 1-4th Nov 2016, to enable each
team to send one representative to train on how to
develop their processed and modelled VR version
of their buildings into an interactive interface, that
could link modelled spaces to other virtual platforms (e.g.: for on-line trade, exhibition, social
networks, and others). Due to the limitation of the
project budget, the project can fund a maximum of
One-person per group to come to the UK to attend
the Workshop. But, other members of the groups
can attend the training on their personal cost, if
they wish to join.
STEP FIVE: PRODUCTION, SUBMISSION AND
EXHIBITIONS
STEP FOUR: PRACTICAL WORK AND TRAINING
Practical Work
This phase in concerned with the technical and research application of the project during its production. Each Group will be assigned an international
expert as a mentor to offer guidance and advice
when needed. However, this does not mean tutorials on weekly basis.
The Practical side of the project would ideally progress in two parallel but complementary routes:
Route 1: Research team undertake data-collection
and search for information on the activities and
socio-cultural history that concerns the building/
activity of the project. Each project must provide
a series of educational info-graphics through visually-accessible display of history of the building,
related records, paintings, or accounts.
Route 2: Graphics and Technical team will undertake photographic, laser scanner and manual
survey of the building they work on. Then, they will
process the survey into CAD-models and then into
3DS/C4D models. Each Team will have the chance
to Laser-Scan their site, under the supervision of
NRIAG is a coordinated 2-Days in Islamic Cairo.

Each Team will need to develop a Project BLOG

whose name should start with [Virtual Heritage
Cairo] + [Project Name] and document all project
process and surveys, analysis and production on
Weekly basis. The Blogs will be connected to the
VHC website. The VHC Experts will review the progress of the project through this blog. Each team
will need to compile a Phase 1 Submission Material of their projects by 15th December 2016 to be
reviewed by the Projects Board of Experts. These
must include:
1. The Original Business Plan
2. Report on the research, data collected and
info-graphics developed for the project, including
technical aspects and documentation of the production.
3. The Virtual Heritage model, platform that shows
the design for public engagement, and how people
will benefit from it. This could be a video display, or
an online website that is used for demonstration of
the projects outcome.
Based on the VHC Board of Experts review, the
quality and progress of projects will be evaluated
and assessed. Only high quality projects/ material/
presentation will be put on display on the Projects
Virtual Museum.

www.virtualheritagecairo.com

PROJECT CONFERENCE - 4th & 5th Jan 2017

RECOGNITION

All Groups work will be on display in the Project

Symposium and Exhibition, which will take place
in Cairo on both 4th and 5th January 2017 and will
be attended by government officials, stakeholders,
academics, and NGOs.

All Teams who complete their December submission and take part in the Exhibition at the Project
Conference in January, and subject to satisfactory
quality of production, will be awarded a Fellowship-status of the Virtual Heritage Cairo (VHC) Network, with their full information and details will be
enlisted on the Networks Fellowship Register.

Each Group will have an exhibition space to present

their work and 20 minutes presentation as part of
the Conference Programme. There will be further
exhibitions of the Produced Work in The United
Kingdom.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
Virtual Heritage Cairo (VHC) Network offers financial
incentives to support the recruitment, research and
production of groups work. This is mainly through
limited contribution to the project production costs.
Each Group will be supported by a sum of LE 5,000
throughout the progress of the project in the following order and subject to satisfactory progress:
LE 2,000 after two months of good progress (Nov
2016), LE 2,000 by the submission of Project Development (Dec 2016), and finally LE 1,000 following
a positive participation in the Projects Conference
(4-5th January 2017).
VHC also offers indirect financial support through
technical aspects such as Mentoring Scheme, providing 3D laser scanners and coordinating on-line
exhibitions on the Project Website. These aspects
of support may vary from one group to another.

The Details of the Fellowship Register will be announced during the Project Conference in January
2017.
There will be Commendation Prizes for Outstanding Projects that show exceptional potentials for
a successful business. This will be on the form of
two Prizes: 1st Prize (LE 6,000) and Second Prize
(LE 4,000). Awarded Project teams will be further
supported to carry on developing their work into
a successful Start-Ups with further support from
Virtual Heritage Cairo Network, through mentoring,
partnerships and potential participation in future
grants schemes.
Virtual Heritage Cairo aims, through this scheme of
practical projects, to help young researchers and
professionals to gain experience, accumulate skills
and benefit from expert guidance to invent and innovative new platforms of engagement with Egypts
Cultural Heritage.

NOTES
All Dates for workshop training activities are indicative and could be amended. Detailed information
on activities, training venues, and events will be
continuously updated on both teh Project website
and Facebook-Page.
For Further Enquiries on the scheme, please do
contact the Project team on the Project Website:
www.virtualheritagecairo.com, and our Facebook
page: Virtual Heritage Cairo VHC

CONTACTS

UNITED KINGDOM

EGYPT

Dr. Mohamed Gamal Abdelmonem

Digital Heritage Unit
School of Architecture and Built Environment
University of Wolverhampton

Professor Gad El-Qady

National Research Institute for Astronomy and
Geophysics

City Campus, Wulfruna Building

Wulfruna Street, Wolverhampton
Post Code: WV1 1LY
United Kingdom
E-mail: m.gamal@wlv.ac.uk

Helwan, Cairo
P.O.Box 227 Helwan,
Post Code: 11722 Cairo
Egypt
E-mail: gadosan@nriag.sci.eg

www.virtualheritagecairo.com

www.virtualheritagecairo.com