VR in history and archaeology

Virtual Reality is an excellent tool for bringing history to life and communicating historical knowledge to a broad audience. In addition, 3D reconstructions help expert historians resolve questions concerning building construction or lines of sight in a city, for example.

---

 

Visualization of Aduard monastic church

In the Middle Ages, the Dutch village of Aduard (near Groningen) was home to a very large Cistercian monastery. The Aduard Historical Society has used the Reality Centre to study a 3D reconstruction of the monastic church. »

Virtual excavation of the 'wierde' Ezinge

In 2006 the Groninger Musuem hosted an exhibition dedicated to the renowned Dutch archaeologist A.E. van Giffen, who - among many other things - excavated the 'wierde' (artificial dwelling hill) in the village of Ezinge, near Groningen. In cooperation with Minerva Art School, HPC/V created a spectacular 3D movie for the Groninger Museum. This 3D movie brought back to life Prof. van Giffen and his excavation, and ran in passive stereo at the exhibition. »

3D reconstruction of Pienza town square

Together with his students, architecture historian Dr E.A. Koster recreated the old town square of the Italian city of Pienza. This 3D model was viewed in the Reality Centre to test several existing hypotheses regarding the original design of the square and the lines of sight towards the town church, without the buildings that obstruct the view in the modern-day situation.

The St Annunziata Square in Florence in 3D

For this project, Dr E.A. Koster modelled the history of the Santissima Annunziata Square in Florence, Italy. The 3D reconstruction consists of multiple layers, allowing architecture historians to study the development of the square throughout history.