Learners studying history, classical civilisations and Latin as well as university history and classics degrees can explore an intricate 3D reconstruction of a Roman house built in the virtual world Second Life by academics from the University of Bristol.
Ben Showers, programme manager at JISC, which has funded this work to take place, said: “This resource shows the possibilities for learning, teaching and research beyond the physical classroom. By exploring a virtual recreation like the Roman house,knowledge and understanding of a topic can be even more interactive and personalised for the individual learner and researcher.”
The virtual villa is a recreation of the Pompeian Court which was built inside the Crystal Palace exhibition in 1854 but was lost in a fire in 1936. The virtual model, built by Dr Shelley Hales and Dr Nic Earle at the University of Bristol, brings together a digitised collection of the paintings displayed in the Court as well as an archive of the guidebooks and press reviews which described it.
