THE UNDERGROUND CAVES OF SLOVENIA
Bostjan Burger, extreme VR photographer
by Doug DeRusha
 Sometimes it takes a technology like QuickTime VR to let us experience other worlds, and to explore places that we might otherwise never know existed.
In the small European country of Slovenia there is a vast network of subterranean caves so magnificent that they need to be seen to be believed. One of these caves in particular, known as 'Krizna Jama', might be the most remarkable of all. First documented in 1832, it wasn't until 94 years later that it was first explored by Slovene cavers. The cave is particularly well known for its chain of twenty-two underground lakes of emerald green water.
In September of 2000, the newly initiated 'Karst Project' began to organize and photograph the cave systems of 'Postojnska jama' and 'Skocjanske jame', so that people worldwide could admire this beauty without intruding in droves on the delicate ecosystem. The Slovenian government has demonstrated solid support for these types of initiatives, and it shows some very progressive thinking on their part.
In June 1996 Bostjan became involved in the creation of 'Slovenia Land Of Waterfalls', which was launched on the Internet after 15 years of researching the hydrology of the waterfalls of Slovenia. Over 300 separate waterfalls were recorded with complete data and visual information on each waterfall - the majority of which were presented and documented in VR. And so the project went on to create other VR intensive initiatives.
In 1997 the 'Virtual Reality Panorama project: Landmarks was started to create a striking visual presentation using Virtual Reality Panoramas. The Virtual Tour was very effective in showcasing locations like caves, deep gorges and mountain peaks, as well as towns, museums, castles, and national parks and ethnology. More than 1,800 VR Panoramas and 2,000 interactive pictures have been created for the project so far.
The CD-ROM 'Waterfalls of Triglav National Park' was published 1998, and covered the entire area of the National Park with permanent waterfalls. The multimedia guide consisted of descriptions of waterfalls, accesses, GPS location, maps, interactive photos, QTVR's and 61 min. of VHS quality movies of waterfalls on a single CD. Many of the CD's were donated to Slovenian schools and incorporated into the Geography curriculum.
The 'Virtual guide to Slovenian Museums' began in March 2000, and the funding has continued into 2002. Many Slovenian cultural locations are represented, which are in turn connected to a virtual guide of each museum. Currently 49 museums (of 268) are presented within this project.
But what's really amazing is that Bostjan Burger has been involved in every one of these projects, yet he still has the energy to crawl through tunnels hundreds of feet underground to bring the wonders of caves like Krizna Jama to the outside world. Let's face it, this guy is motivated.
Bostjan's ultimate goal is to shoot VR's of the entire cave system, and they've got a pretty good start. There are 110 panos of the Postojnska jama and Skocjanske jame cave systems done to date, and a mandate to continue with the project. He is currently shooting panos of Krizna Jama and he has his work cut out for him again. 2 hours of 'swimming' around with the camera to take 12 pictures for the pano, while calibrating the light and shouting to assistants... this is Bostjan Burger in his element.
Today he spends much of his time hiking over rough terrain with a GPS unit, recording his notes on the environmental conditions and taking photos, including VR. As the head of an experimental multimedia and computer enterprise, Bostjan has been largely responsible for the adoption and use of QuickTime VR in all of his projects.
We talked to him about his work...
Comments:
WOW!! Best photos of a cave that I have seen
falzguy.buffnet.net on 2002-11-30 01:00:25
Email: dougderusha@mac.com
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