David Anderson

The preservation of complex materials and associated environments presents the Digital Preservation (DP) community in general and the JISC community in particular with considerable intellectual and logistical challenges. While many of the techniques that have been developed within the context of migration-based DP approaches are of continuing value, others cannot be applied so well given the extra complexity presented by, for example, interactive videogames. Recent work undertaken in the Planets and KEEP projects has shown that the problems involved in preserving such materials and
their associated environments, while substantial, are by no means intractable, but in order to continue to make progress in this area it is important to engage and energize the wider
DP community.

A vital aspect of this process comprises articulating the state of the art in
1. Simulations and Visualisations;
2. Software Based Art
3. Gaming Environments and Virtual Worlds.

This encompasses exploring with international experts the research results achieved so far across each of these domains; presenting coherent pathfinder solutions; and clearly signposting areas where work remains to be done. A further step is
to synthesize key findings across all three areas and emphasize synergies that can be built upon, and to disseminate these to the various stakeholder communities.

These are the principal objectives that POCOS addresses and POCOS partners are well placed to tackle the problem space, with the University of Portsmouth as overall coordinator bringing research and technical input from KEEP; the British Library
supplying project management and research expertise from Planets, King’s Visualisation Lab bringing their specialist visualisation and simulation knowledge and experience; The
Humanities Advanced Technology & Information Institute giving their specialist Software Based Art expertise from Planets.