The CIREVE (Centre Interdisciplinaire de Réalité Virtuelle) of the University of Caen, Basse-Normandie France has developed an experimental self-service model for educational purposes. It is an interactive 3D model of the forum romanum built from the reconstruction of the entire city of ancient Rome and intended for museums, schools, and universities with educational documentation about each building.

This paper will explain

1. The context of the experiment: the reconstruction of the entire city of Rome as it was in the 4th century A.D for scientific and educational purposes. The interactive model is the work of a research team following scientific methods. Behind the virtual model, there is permanent access to a database with ancient texts, didactic videos, 2D pictures and a bibliography. The software used is 3DSMax for modelling and CryEngine for the interactivity.

2. The aim of the experiment: to provide educational actors with an interactive tool to discover different aspects of classical Antiquity. The interactive model must be used in self-service, i.e. without a scientific mediator. Although a scientific mediator can be essential for knowledge transmission, this interactive model can work alone transmitting knowledge through interactive play.

3. Constraints of an interactive model in self-service: an interactive model, at the service of the public at large, is different from an interactive model used by a researcher for scientific purposes or a model used by a scientific mediator. Firstly, it must be fitted with easily accessible documentation (which replaces dialogue with the scientific mediator). In the experimental model of the CIREVE, there are two types of documentation: automatic documentation which appears when the user is approaching a building and documentation ‘on request’ (similar to that in a guidebook). Secondly, it must be conceived so that the user cannot get lost in the streets, in public buildings, in dwellings. Virtual gates must be placed in the virtual model like barriers in a real site. In 3DStudio, these are ‘collisions’. The software must be legally protected to avoid manipulation and alteration in line with intellectual property rights.