ITR: Conversion of a Stand-alone Real-time Virtual Reality Database to an Internet-based Multimedia Digital Library for the Humanities

University Of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

An existing real-time virtual reality database, created since 1997 and currently available only on a supercomputer at UCLA, will be converted to a format that can operate on the Internet. This database is a real-time computer model of the Roman Forum as it appeared in late antiquity. Created and authenticated by a Scientific Committee of leading archaeological experts on the Forum, the model includes the interiors and exteriors of each building and monument in the Forum. Research issues to be explored include: (1) How are real-time 3D computer models of cultural heritage sites like the Roman Forum best viewed on the Internet? (2) What other multimedia resources should accompany the 3D computer models to make the information offered about the site useful to scholars and students? (3) What does it mean to create an "authenticated" 3D computer model of a cultural heritage site? The existing Forum model will serve as a testbed for developing solutions to these problems. The project will help promote a better understanding of a key monument of Western civilization; and it will develop methodologies and technologies that can become standard solutions for the digital presentation of other important cultural heritage sites around the world.