Virtual environment

Rome Reborn Team Calls for 4D Technology for Virtual Hadrian's Villa

Hadrians Villa 25

At the Fall 2009 Membership Meeting of the the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI), Bernard Frischer, Director of the Virtual World Heritage Laboratory at the University of Virginia said his team of "digital humanists" that were responsible for the development of Rome Reborn are turning their attention to UNESCO-listed Hadrian's Villa, also known as Villa Adriana, in Tivoli. In his talk, Beyond Illustration: New Dimensions of 3D Modeling of Cultural Heritage Sites and Monuments (see the video at the bottom of this page), he discusses how 4D virtualisation would increase our knowledge of the ancient world.

Exploring the virtual Ming and Qing dynasties through The Forbidden City: Beyond Space and Time

My avatar (right), dressed in a robe and headdress of the Qing Dynasty court, prepares to enter the Meridian Gate.Over six hundred years after the original Forbidden City was constructed in China, visitors were invited to pass through the vermillion Meridian Gate of a virtual Forbidden City, a joint project of the Palace Museum and IBM.  The new virtual world not only provides visitors with the opportunity to marvel at the beautifully rendered architecture but examine cultural relics, observe and even engage in activities enjoyed by emperors and their families and learn more about the history of the Ming and Qing imperial dynasties.

I have not yet made my first visit to the real Forbidden City (it's definitely on my list of planned heritage site visits, though).  But I was excited to get a virtual preview, especially from the comfort of my computer without enduring hours in the cramped seat of a 757.

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I tried every staircase but each time the avatar was prevented from mounting the dais. I smiled when I discovered this as the developers must have included this behavior to maintain the sanctity of the throne even in this virtual palace. After all, only an emperor with the mandate of heaven was supposed to sit upon it.
About The AuthorMary HarrschMary Harrsch

Photographer, instructional technologist and consulting systems analyst who travels the world photographing historical art and architecture and publishes articles about historical topics, particularly the ancient world.  My photography has appeared in productions for The History Channel and Canadian Public Broadcasting, educational texts in the U.S. and Australia, museum promotional posters in Scotland, a fine arts journal in Istanbul as well as numerous books and magazines in both Europe and the U.S..

Visit my website for more info.
 

Last three pieces by this author: Italy Demands Repatriation of Getty Villa's Lysippos Statue 'Victorious Youth', Rome Reborn Team Calls for 4D Technology for Virtual Hadrian's Villa, Top 10: The Best Photos of Egyptian Artefacts by Sandro Vannini on Flickr


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