Virtual reality resurrects ancient Rome bit by bit
Gazing upon the splendours of ancient Rome is no longer a luxury reserved for visitors to the Italian capital, as temples opened their doors internationally with a digital project launched Wednesday after decades of planning.
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Credit: Rome Reborn Virtual Reality Project/Flyover Zone Productions/AFP
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"I first came up with the idea in 1974. I was determined to find a way to bring these wonderful monuments to the world, but the technology didn't exist then," the project's director, digital archaeologist Bernard Frischer, told AFP.
"We had to redesign the model three times as technology advanced, but 22 years after we began, and three million dollars (2.6 million euros) later, we're finally here," he said.
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Credit: Rome Reborn Virtual Reality Project/Flyover Zone Productions/AFP |
"We chose AD 320 because we have the most information for that period so we can be as accurate as possible, and after that the empire's capital moved to Constantinople," said 69-year-old Frischer.
"At the moment you can travel in a virtual hot air balloon over the ancient city, and teleport between different parts of historic sites to see them as they were and learn more about them.
"In the next two to three years we will add other key sites, such as the Colosseum and the Pantheon," he said.
Users are able to switch between views of the monuments as they are now -- the ruined remains -- and as they were then.
The project is named after the words of 15th century papal secretary Flavio Biondo, who is the first documented person to have called for a reconstruction of ancient Rome.
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Credit: Rome Reborn Virtual Reality Project/Flyover Zone Productions/AFP |
Flyover Zone, the company behind Rome Reborn, plans to reconstruct Athens in the time of Socrates and Jerusalem in the period of Jesus Christ.
It is not the only project which allows people to see Rome as it was under various emperors, but those wanting to explore Nero's Domus Aurea palace and the Caracalla thermal baths have to use virtual reality goggles on site.
Source: AFP [November 22, 2018]
What about people like me who can't (And don't want to) use virtual reality goggles? Are we to be ostracized because we can't use them?
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