A global library for your digital memories

 

Gallery

Posted on 11 Feb 2009 at 17:42

Scientists are working on developing the world's first general purpose emulator, to recover and preserve old technology, and cultural information about the generation born and brought up in the "digital age".

The scientists claim that their virtual machine will be able to recognise and open all previous types of computer files, from classic video games to 5 1/4in floppy discs.

The KEEP (Keeping Emulation Environments Portable) Project is a joint venture run by a team of university researchers around Europe. Dan Pinchbeck from the University of Portsmouth, told Computer Shopper that the virtual machine "will be able to handle any digital object you throw at it".

"Once the architecture is in there, it'll run any emulator that you plug directly into the core architecture," he said. "It should be able to handle any digital object from any period."

Pinchbeck also claims that the emulator is future-proof, because it can, itself, be emulated.

"It constantly keeps updating, so it'll be able to recreate any digital object," he said.

In the first phase of the KEEP Project, there will be one terminal in each of the French, Dutch and German national libraries. Users can sit down at the computer, run the emulator and access the Project's data. Pinchbeck said that the next stage is to look for a UK site.

He also revealed that the team is working on an online search feature, so that users can access the data collated by the project, from their own homes.

"What I hope to see at the end of it is a freely accessible web interface, where anybody can search the KEEP archive and see what's within it," he said.

National libraries across the world have typically stored and preserved digital artefacts by taking the original data and converting it to a newer format. The KEEP team argues that this method has its flaws, as you constantly have to convert the data as each format become obsolete, and the more you compress the data, the more its quality degrades.

The team claims that emulation is a better way preserving content, because it involves recreating the platform, rather than changing the digital object.

Saving games

Pinchbeck added that one type of digital artefact that is often overlooked is computer games. These tend to be lost very quickly as new consoles are developed at a fast pace, and older formats quickly become obsolete. Although there are programmers around who emulate classic video games and distribute the games, as well as the emulators, online, this movement stems out of fan culture, and there's no systematic preservation of digital games.

"It's partially because they're seen as pop culture artefacts are not given a great amount of value, but for me, they're a very important part of our cultural history," said Pinchbeck. "The technical innovations that are being made in games are important to preserve, as much as the game experience itself."

Author: Dawinderpal Sahota