Projects funded by the State and the Region

The CDDO-Lux project aims to reconstruct the interiors and the lightings of the temporary palaces built in Guînes and Ardres (in the Calais region) for the meeting between the courts of Francis I of France and Henry VIII of England (7–24 June 1520) during the Field of the cloth of gold (CDDO).

Project lader: Isabelle Paresys (Hartis)
 

Incorporate dynamic simulations of photorealistic images and videos of flooded areas for any geographical location. A bespoke narrative and visual design are planned to conceal the technology, allowing the message and the intended emotional impact to take centre stage.


Project leader: Tanmoy Mondal (Cristal)

DEMDIF focuses on designing immersive scenographies that transport audiences into a virtual environment. The goal is to enable artists to access all types of immersive displays that integrate their personal creation tools. Immersive displays, whether in virtual or mixed reality, make it possible to create new scenographies for performances or artistic installations, immersing both artists and audiences in a virtual environment.

Project leaders: Florent Berthaut (Cristal) et Lionel Palun (Artist 720 Digital)

This project aims to understand how visual and auditory information influences our memory during social interactions (known as conversational memory). The goal is to develop an innovative cognitive model that integrates these cues to improve the design of avatars and interactions in virtual environments. Indeed, the precise role of visual elements in memorization remains poorly understood.

Project lead: Dominique Knutsen (Scalab)

This project aims to enable a precise comparison of the two rival exhibition spaces in London and Paris during the 1780s through a virtual and immersive visit. The goal is to provide historians with new tools, complementary to archives, to understand the visitor experiences in each location during the 18th century, as well as the arguments used to favor one over the other. To achieve this, the project will reconstruct both spaces, their lighting systems, and the arrangement of artworks using 3D visualization, based on contemporary iconographic sources that document the 1787 exhibitions in detail. The project is a collaboration between the University of Lille, the University of Kent in Canterbury, and the Louvre Museum.

Project leaders: Gaëtane Maës (Laboratoire Hartis)

The InCity project uses the example of the Greek city of Apollonia of Illyria to establish a workflow model—from field data acquisition to 3D virtual reconstruction—that aims to depict the entry into a city with the greatest possible historical accuracy. This approach seeks to explore the perception of urbanity. At the scale of the Hauts-de-France region, this workflow can be applied to other sites and can also benefit from the knowledge, techniques, and methods used to study fortifications from other periods, particularly Vauban’s fortresses, in synergy with researchers from other research units and universities in the region.

Project leader: Nicolas Genis (Hartis)

This project aims to equip a virtual agent with AI capabilities to understand, predict, and respond as appropriately as possible to human actions. To achieve this, the project proposes modeling, learning, and generating human interactions using the most advanced AI techniques. While current approaches in 3D human motion synthesis can produce high-quality animations of digital humans performing a wide variety of actions and gestures, there remains a significant technological gap in studying the complex dynamics of multi-human interactions within this paradigm.

Project leader: Angela Bartolo (Scalab)

It is Wednesday 12 June 1448, in Lille’s market square, at the heart of a lively, bustling, colourful and noisy medieval town. The crowd gathers between the market stalls, which are draped in colourful fabrics. The cries of the traders calling out to passers-by mingle with the sounds of animals and the wheels of carts rumbling heavily over the sandstone paving stones. The ringing of the bells reminds us of the morning’s religious services. Suddenly, our attention is drawn to the sound of a trumpet coming from the town hall, the seat of the city’s authority. People gather in the shadow of the belfry, keeping an eye on the clock, to listen to the proclamation by the town crier stationed on the ‘bretesque’, a balcony suspended from the façade…

We are in the 21st century and we are strolling between the Grand’Place and the Place du Théâtre. All that remains of the medieval market are 140 cobblestones, which discreetly remind today’s passers-by of a vanished place. 

The INSULA project offers a digital visual and audio restitution of Lille’s market square on the day of Wednesday 12 June 1448. Drawing on archives, archaeological sources and extensive analysis, it will now be possible to understand this space in terms of both its physical characteristics and the activities that took place there.

Project leaders: Pauline Triplet, Élodie Lecuppre-Desjardin, Mathieu Vivas (Hartis) 

Discover INSULA's website

This project aims to recreate 18th-century life in Lille through a video game. Using procedural generation of events (such as news, economic shifts, and political developments) and diverse AI, each playthrough will offer a unique experience, featuring responsive characters and multisensory immersion. A prototype will be developed in Unreal Engine with support from external development services.

Project leader: Nicolas Wicker (Laboratoire Paul Painlevé)

The TEMACO-NUM project aims to recreate the textile, sound, and culinary environment of the Field of the Cloth of Gold (1520), a lost heritage site of the Hauts-de-France region, built for the meeting between the courts of France and England, near Guînes and Ardres.

While the event is well-documented in diplomatic history, its material culture remains less explored. Banquets, music, and dancing animated the receptions hosted by the monarchs. While Queen Claude of France received Henry VIII and his entourage in Ardres, Queen Catherine of Aragon welcomed Francis I, along with 400 French ladies and gentlemen, in Guînes.

Once reconstructed, the textile decor, furniture, and tableware of the Banqueting Hall and the royal banquet chamber - along with the dishes served - will be brought to life through sound, evoking the unique atmosphere of these spaces. This will include the musical environment that accompanied meals and dances, as well as the ambient sounds of the banquets and service (clinking dishes, announcements, movements of guests). The project intends to create an immersive visitor experience, guiding them through these interconnected spaces.

Project leader: Isabelle Paresys (Hartis)

This project examines the use of textiles in Etruscan funerary rituals through the painted tombs of the Tarquinia necropolis (Italy, a UNESCO World Heritage site). It focuses on three types of textiles: the garments worn by the deceased and the participants during the ceremony, textiles used as mobile decorative objects, and those integrated into the fixed decoration of the tombs.

First, a comprehensive typology of these textiles will be established and reconstructed in 3D to better understand their manufacturing techniques. The tombs will then be digitized to create immersive visual environments where the 3D textiles will be placed. Digital avatars will replicate the gestures and sequences of the ritual. The goal is to reconstruct the tomb space at the moment of its sealing to gain a deeper understanding of the role of textiles in these rituals.

Project leader: Audrey Gouy (Hartis)

The symbiosis between humans and robots relies on the critical ability to create robots that interact seamlessly with people in a way that feels as natural and human-like as possible. A major aspect of this interaction is the consistency between the robot’s visual appearance and its vocal communication. A mismatch in this alignment can lead to discomfort during interactions, a phenomenon known as the "uncanny valley." The goal of this project is to synchronize a robot’s verbal communication style with its physical appearance. This will be achieved by developing a system in which 2D virtual robots provide responses that align with their appearance and reflect the valence and perceptions designed by real humans, thereby enhancing the comfort and effectiveness of human-robot interaction.

Project leader: Tatjana Nazir ( Scalab)

The project aims to develop a new ecological and evaluative test for episodic memory in virtual reality, specifically designed for seniors. A first phase in a real-life therapeutic kitchen setting began in 2023. Thanks to the 2023 Prématuration AAP funding, the necessary basic equipment was acquired, and an initial simulation in Unity was developed. This new support will enable the finalization of the prototype and its testing with an elderly population, which will also help establish initial recommendations for using VR with seniors.

Project leader: Marion Luyat (Psitec)