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ROME REBORN IN THE SMITHSONIAN

November 28, 2018. Ever wish you could step into a hot air balloon, travel back in time to 320 A.D., and soar over the streets of Ancient Rome? Well, that oddly specific fantasy is achievable in a new virtual reality experience called “Rome Reborn.”

The ambitious undertaking, painstakingly built by a team of 50 academics and computer experts over a 22-year period, recreates 7,000 buildings and monuments scattered across a 5.5 square mile stretch of the famed Italian city. The project, according to Tom Kington of the Times, is being marketed as the largest digital reconstruction of Rome to date.

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ROME REBORN CALLED 'BIG SUCCESS' AT THE CIVIC MUSEUM OF RIETI

May 30, 2018. “We want to democratize knowledge,” said Professor Bernard Frischer, from Indiana University, talking about the ultimate purpose of the Rome Reborn® VR project, which was presented at the Multifunctional Hall of the Santa Lucia Complex on May 26, 2018.

The Rome Reborn® VR project, in development since 1997, consists of a digital reconstruction of the ancient city of Rome within the Aurelian walls, as it appeared in 320 AD. The current version of the model is 3.0, optimized for use in real time through augmented virtual reality. The demonstration, which was offered during the day, allowed a visit to the Roman forum with many possibilities of choice and in-depth analysis through specific viewers to experiment directly with virtual reality.

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ROME REBORN IN THE SUNDAY TIMES OF LONDON

November 22, 2018. Rome wasn’t built in a day and the creation of a virtual reality copy of the imperial city hasn’t been a sprint either.

A team of 50 academics and computer experts has completed the job after 22 years, producing Rome Reborn, a ten-gigabyte virtual world.

The project, with 7,000 buildings and temples spread over five square miles, is being touted as the biggest digital reconstruction of an ancient site.

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HISTORY IN THE MAKING

Computer Graphics World, December 2008.

“This historically accurate digital re-creation—which melds the wondrous technological achievements of the past with those of the present—offers a comprehensive, holistic perspective of this amazing city. The most impressive aspect of this re-creation is the sheer scale of the model: It encompasses 7,000 carefully reconstructed, detailed period buildings covering 14 square kilometers (5.4 square miles) of authentically contoured landscape. And when this virtual model is completed… users will be able to explore the ancient cityscape, structures, and alleyways in real time and in high resolution. What’s more, all the imagery and information will be rendered interactively within the user’s Internet browser or VR headset…”

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What Our Teletourists Have to Say

As an educator, I find Rome Reborn to be a tool of incalculable pedagogical value. Highly recommended to anyone interested in teaching or learning about Rome!
David WinklerProfessor, Dept. of Languages, University of Delaware
As a high school Latin teacher, I am fascinated by the program and its ability to put the user into the classical world. I am very excited to see how I can integrate this into my classes....
Kirk HalversonHigh school teacher
I recently completed my graduate studies at the University of Oregon and I wish I had had access to this program while teaching art history courses on the ancient world! Rome Reborn is so informative and easy to operate. I am beginning a career in museum education and outreach and I hope to implement this program in the future as a teaching tool.
Alexandra SchneiderGetty Villa
I have begun bringing the Rome Reborn VR visors to class to allow students to finally begin to understand what the Roman Forum was like in antiquity. The result has been overwhelming. Students wait patiently for their turn, not really knowing what to expect. When it is their turn, they are truly transported. "Wow!" "Cool!" "Amazing!" "This is so wonderful!" Using the visors is a precious experience, as it is the best thing available to us today to bridge the centuries and bring us as close as possible to ancient Rome.
Crispin CorradoProf. of Classical Archaeology, University of California, Rome Study Center
To date, I have used Rome Reborn in a small Honors section of my architectural history survey. The student response was very positive. The 360 degree panoramas of the major monuments of ancient Rome offered by Rome Reborn clearly helped the students make a “leap” of understanding from the textbook description to visualizing the reconstructed architecture. The ability to “time travel” by toggling between “now” and “then” views is both informative and intriguing, leading the students to appreciate what has been destroyed or lost but also to raise questions in class discussion about how modern scholars go about reconstructing the monuments.
Kevin GlowackiAssoc. Prof. of Architecture, Texas A&M
I am professor for Ancient Topography at the University of Florence and every year I regularly give a seminar on the Roman Forum. To give my students a more complete idea of the site at the end of the course I give them a guided tour of the place, but I experimented the possibility of using in advance Flyover Zone's app of the Roman Forum in order to familiarize them with the monumental area and to present the various reconstructions proposed in the last years. The students react with enthusiasm because of the life-like effect and the possibility the app provides to explore the Forum as it really appeared. I do not know of any other VR archaeological reconstruction which is at the same time so historically accurate and so lively and easy to use.
Paolo LiveraniProfessor, Dept. of Archaeology, University of Florence

Archived Publications

  1. Times Herald, Sep 8, 2019 // Read More
  2. Digital Signage Connection, March 6, 2019 // Read More
  3. AR Post, December 15, 2018 // Read More
  4. Lonely Planet, December 10, 2018 // Read More
  5. Exponent, December 6, 2018 // Read More
  6. Smithsonian, November 28, 2018 // Read More
  7. Agence France Press, November 28, 2018 // Read More
  8. VR Times, November 25, 2018 // Read More
  9. Sunday Times, November 22, 2018 // Read More
  10. ANSA. November 22, 2018 // Read More
  11. The Local it. November 21, 2018 // Read More
  12. Testimonials from Demo at the American Academy in Rome, July 3, 2018 // Video 1 / Video 2 / Video 3
  13. “Archaeologist Bernard Frischer,” Indiana Public Media, March 5, 2017 // Read More
  14. “New 3D Model Brings Ancient Roman Ruins to Life,” Sputnik International, March 5, 2016 // Read More
  15. “Ancient Rome is Reconstructed in 3D: Check Out the Video Tour!” 3DPrint.com, March 27, 2016 // Read More
  16. “Take a Tour of Ancient Rome, 320 CE,” Archinect, March 20, 2016 // Read More
  17. “Indiana Professor Restores the Glory of Rome,” Big Ten Network, March 13, 2016 // Read More
  18. “VIDEO prehliadka Starovekého Ríma: Takto to vyzeralo v meste, ktoré kedysi vládlo svetu,” Topky, March 10, 2016 // Read More
  19. “Ever Wonder What Ancient Rome Really Looked Like? This Video Shows You,” Rise:News, March 7, 2016 // Read More
  20. “Ta en tur i Roma – slik det var i antikken,” forskning, March 2, 2016 // Read More
  21. “Rome Reborn: Watch What Ancient Rome Looked Like in 320 AD Thanks to 3D Reconstruction,” Independent, March 1, 2016 // Read More
  22. “This Video Shows What Ancient Rome Actually Looked Like,” Vox, February 28, 2016 // Read More
  23. “Rome Reborn: Take a Virtual Tour of Ancient Rome, Circa 320 C.E.,” Open Culture, March 20, 2015 // Read Mor
  1. “Technology Identifies Lost Color at Roman Forum,” The New York Times, June 24, 2012 // Read More
  2. “Mesmerizing Video Tours Ancient Rome – in 3D,” Toronto Star, March 13, 2012 // Read More
  3. “Jessica Hughes Interviews Bernard Frischer ,” Classics Confidential, October 6, 2011 // Watch Video
  4. “Ancient Rome Reborn in 3-D,” National Geographic News, October 28, 2010 // Read More
  5. “Gerry Bayne Interviews Bernard Frischer,” EDUCAUSE, January 25, 2010 // Listen
  1. “Exploring Ancient Rome with Google Earth,” Education Week, Mar. 17, 2009 // Read More
  2. Federico Ferrazza, “Fortissimamente Google,” Espresso, Feb. 17, 2009 // Read More
  3. “History in the Making,” Computer Graphics World, December 2008 // Read More
  4. “Google Earth fait renaître la Rome antique,” 01net, November 14, 2008 // Read More
  5. “Explore Ancient Rome with Google Earth,” Wired, November 14, 2008 // Read More
  6. “When not in Rome… Simply Log onto Google,” Daily Mail, November 13, 2008 // Read More
  7. “Google Earth Steps Back in Time to Ancient Rome,” Hot Hardware, November 13, 2008. // Read More
  8. “3D-Spaziergang durch das antike Rom,” Welt Online, November 13, 2008 // Read More
  9. “Rome not built in a day, even for Google Earth,” The Age, November 13, 2008 // Read More
  10. “Ancient Rome rises on Google Earth,” The Register, November 13, 2008 // Read More
  11. “Friends, Romans, Google Users …” Brisbane Times, November 13, 2008 // Read More
  12. “Virtual Tourists Travel Back to Ancient Rome,” Guardian, November 12, 2008 // Read More
  13. “Google Earth Revives Ancient Rome,” BBC News, November 12, 2008 // Read More
  14. “Exploring Old Rome Without Air (or Time) Travel,” The New York Times, November 12, 2008 // Read More
  15. “Google Earth’s Ancient Roman Holiday,” CNET News, November 12, 2008 // Read More
  16. “Ancient Rome in Google Earth,” OGLE Earth, November 12, 2008 // Read More
  17. “Ancient Rome in 3D for Google Earth,” Google Earth Blog, November 12, 2008 // Read More
  18. “Google Brings Ancient Rome to Life,” Guardian, November 12, 2008 // Read More
  19. “La Roma dei Cesari in 3D,” La Stampa, September 26, 2007 // Read More
  20. “Rome Reborn”, Quo Magazine, July 2007 // Read More
  21. “Ancient Rome – The Computer Generated Tour,” Microsoft | Developer, June 18, 2007 // Read More
  22. “Kicking Around the Eternal City,” The Lede, June 15, 2007 // Read More
  23. “Virtual Ancient Rome in 3-D…Cool!” Visual Thoughts, June 15, 2007 // Read More
  24. “‘Rome Reborn’ Model Pushes Frontiers of 3-D Simulation,” Wired, June 14, 2007 // Read More
  25. “”Rome Reborn”: Spazieren in einer anderen Zeit,” RP Online, June 13, 2007 // Read More
  26. “Zeitreise zu den alten Römern,” Spiegel Online, June 13, 2007 // Read More
  27. “Rome Reborn Virtual Model,” Asia Brief, June 13, 2007 // Watch Video
  28. “Ancient Rome Brought Back to Life,” BBC News, June 12, 2007 // Read More
  29. “Walk through Ancient Rome in Largest-ever Digital Simulation,” Daily Mail, June 12, 2007 // Read More
  30. “Rome Reborn 1.0,” UCLA Magazine, June 11, 2007 // Read More
  31. “Ancient Rome – Digital 3D Version,” Ed Tech Solutions, June 11, 2007 // Read More
  32. “Ancient Rome Comes Back to Life in Virtual Model,” Reuters, June 11, 2007 // Read More
  33. “Ancient Rome Rebuilt Digitally,” Science Daily, June 11, 2007 // Read More
  34. “Ancient Rome Reborn in Digital Simulation,” USA Today, June 11, 2007 // Read More
  35. “Antikes Rom in digitaler Simulation,” Vorarlberg, June 11, 2007 // Read More
  1. “Caesar Slept Here,” Newsweek, February 3, 2003  // Read More
  2. “Adding New Depth to Archaeology,” Italy Daily, June 29-30, 2002 // Read More
  3. “Virtually Rebuilt, a Ruin Yields Secrets,” The New York Times, May 2, 2002 // Read More
  4. “Rome Reborn”, UCLA Magazine, 2002 // Read More
  5. “Rebuilding Ancient Rome for all to Surf One Day”, National Post, 1999 // Read More
  6. “Virtual Los Angeles”, New York Times, 1998 // Read More
  7. “The Future of the Past,” Scientific American, August 1997 // Read More
  8. “In visita ai Fori virtuali con la macchina del tempo”, January 23, 1997 // Read More

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