2004 the VEMDisTM team won a £10,000 finalists prize in the Research Councils UK National Business Plan Competition for their plan to develop and market an augmented reality display device for museums. VEMDis is a display technology and contents development service for museum and cultural heritage display, allowing museum visitors to view exhibits superimposed with 3D virtual images that display otherwise missing or damaged portions of the artefact. For example, surface degradation such as paint loss on a fresco, can be restored "virtually" and viewed in situ. The audience might elect to see the object in its current condition or as it may have appeared when initially executed.
The research developed innovative methods for AR display, which shares virtual reality (VR) systems including technological apparatuses, computer-generated real-time image delivery and interactivity. Unlike VR, it does not substitute physical reality with an immersive replica; rather, AR mixes virtual information with a view of the real object. This preserves the context of heritage visualisation by enhancing - rather than displacing - direct experience with museum objects. The technology not only has the potential to enhance visitor experience, but will also provide museums with a means for making additional archived visual information accessible in displays.
The VEMDisTM researchers, Dr. Angela Geary and Dr. Eric Tatham, founded the spinout company VEMDisTM Ltd. in 2005. The prize money won in the Business Plan Competition facilitated the design and construction of a fully functional prototype unit, incorporating a compact optics design. The prototype display unit was tested in situ, on a range of ancient Egyptian artifacts, at the Petrie Collection at UCL in 2005. The company has recently been awarded £25,000 in investment capital from UAL and the LDA to fund the development of the first commercial production model.
