3D virtual integration for museums and exhibitions
MúzeumCafé 39.
Every day the information technology revolution of our times confronts us with the multifaceted world and brings humanity’s cultural heritage closer as a visual experience. Hungary’s World Heritage sites, museums and exhibitions can be visited not only in person but also virtually. For this, the best means in today’s IT environment is the 3D integrated virtual walk, which in an interactive form provides a multimedia experience. Years ago an IT specialist developed a hardware and software multimedia system to enable visits to museums, archaeological sites and World Heritage sites to be made virtually, in an interactive manner. Today, thanks to its application, information about numerous foreign sites is available on the internet. In 2010 the IT software was awarded the Premio Pro Arte prize by the Italian committee of UNESCO. Csaba Legány received the award at the Hungarian Academy in Rome. The uploading of Cambodia’s 10th-century royal centre, the ancient Koh Ker temple complex with its shrines, richly carved decorations, remains, Sanskrit carved in stone and ancient Khmer inscriptions, as well as cultic objects, was followed by 3D integrated virtual displays of numerous World Heritage sites. These include Luang Prabang and Wat Phu in Laos; Bagan and the monuments of Mandalay in Burma; Borobudur in Java; the Angkor Wat temple complex. The material is constantly being expanded. The new spectacle captures the attention of visitors using the software, since with the help of the 3D system World Heritage sites, museums and exhibitions can be studied in a striking, accessible form. With the creation of the www.visit360.net website and the continuous expansion of its content, it is our hope that with a virtual tour Hungary’s museums and monuments can be brought closer to Hungarians and foreigners alike.