Virtual Model of the City of Rome in the fourth Century A.D.
Résumé
Work on developing a virtual model of the city of Rome in the fourth century A.D. beganin Caen in 1994 (http://www.unicaen.fr/rome). The project is based on a 70-square metermodel of ancient Rome that was made by the architect P. Bigot at the beginning of the 20thcentury, known in French as the “Plan de Rome”. The Plan de Rome is an exceptional pieceof our cultural heritage whose only equivalents are its twin which is on exhibit at the RoyalMuseum of Art and History in Brussels and the model made by I. Gismondi which is in theMuseum of Roman Civilization in Rome. Our relief plan is the origin of a pluridisciplinary project for a virtual 3D model reconstructed in computer-generated images.
A new research structure – the Interdisciplinary Virtual Reality Center (CentreInterdisciplinaire de Réalité Virtuelle or CIREVE) – has since been added to support the work of building the virtual model of the ancient city of Rome. The CIREVE is a University of Caen shared resource that makes it possible to pool the staff and equipment for theapplication of virtual reality techniques for research purposes.
The project involves the development of a fully interactive model of ancient Rome thatincludes both its architecture and the machinery in use. In reconstituting the past, scholars will be able to test their assumptions from the architectural and topographic viewpointsand test machine functionality. The visitor to the virtual site will be able to wander througha full-scale city and enter most of its large public monuments and a few residences. He will be able to access to the source data used in the reconstruction. The work preliminary to thereconstruction itself involves the analysis of ancient source materials, which is currently being performed by the project team’s members who have recourse to outside experts forhelp with specific points.
Expected project results : digital 3D model of Rome as it was in the fourth century A.D.and of the principal machinery used in the Roman world / links for each digital modelto the body of ancient source material (documentary, archeological and iconographic)used in their development. This body of source material will be directly accessible via theinteractive model.
We propose to explain our methodology and to visit some interactive model of ancientRome, with the access to the documentation.
A new research structure – the Interdisciplinary Virtual Reality Center (CentreInterdisciplinaire de Réalité Virtuelle or CIREVE) – has since been added to support the work of building the virtual model of the ancient city of Rome. The CIREVE is a University of Caen shared resource that makes it possible to pool the staff and equipment for theapplication of virtual reality techniques for research purposes.
The project involves the development of a fully interactive model of ancient Rome thatincludes both its architecture and the machinery in use. In reconstituting the past, scholars will be able to test their assumptions from the architectural and topographic viewpointsand test machine functionality. The visitor to the virtual site will be able to wander througha full-scale city and enter most of its large public monuments and a few residences. He will be able to access to the source data used in the reconstruction. The work preliminary to thereconstruction itself involves the analysis of ancient source materials, which is currently being performed by the project team’s members who have recourse to outside experts forhelp with specific points.
Expected project results : digital 3D model of Rome as it was in the fourth century A.D.and of the principal machinery used in the Roman world / links for each digital modelto the body of ancient source material (documentary, archeological and iconographic)used in their development. This body of source material will be directly accessible via theinteractive model.
We propose to explain our methodology and to visit some interactive model of ancientRome, with the access to the documentation.