HCC: III: Small Grant: Enabling the Use of Virtual Worlds for Research and Teaching in Archaeology

University Of Virginia Main Campus, Charlottesville VA

Investigators

Abstract

The project will test the effectiveness of Virtual World Technology (VWT) for archaeological interpretation and dissemination. The research project is aimed at scholars and students of Roman archaeology, architecture, and culture, but it also has the potential to generate insights and results that archaeologists of other periods and cultures will find helpful as they adopt VWT. A testbed will be created which is a virtual world representation of Hadrian?s Villa (Tivoli, Italy). Hadrian's Villa is the best known and best preserved of the imperial villas built near Rome by its emperors. The project will attempt innovate use of VWT avatar observation as a form of scholarly research and teaching. Using this designed space, undergraduates will take on the role of particular avatars who will be required to maintain ways of being that are consistent with their defined role. Graduate students will observe their interactions as a means of testing and possible challenge the existing thesis about how this complex space functioned.