From January to April 2012, Ball State UniversityвЂ™s Institute for Digital Intermedia Arts (IDIA Lab) converted the 3D model to Unity 3D, a virtual world (VW) platform, so that it could be explored interactively, be populated by avatars of members of the imperial court, and could be published on the Internet along with a related 2D website that presents the documentation undergirding the 3D model. The site has been explored since the 15th century and in recent decades has been the object of intense study, excavation, and conservation (for a survey of recent work, see Mari 2010).ДЇrom 2006 to 20011, with the generous support of the National Science Foundation and a private sponsor, the Virtual World Heritage Laboratory created a 3D restoration model of the entire site authored in 3DS Max. Hadrian built this government retreat about 20 miles east of Rome between 117, when he became emperor, and 138 CE, the year he died. A World Heritage site, HadrianвЂ™s Villa covers at least 120 hectares and consists of ca. HadrianвЂ™s Villa is the best known and best preserved of the imperial villas built in the hinterland of Rome by emperors such as Nero, Domitian, and Trajan during the first and second centuries CE. Virtual World Technology as an Aid to Finding Alignments betweenДЎDirector, Virtual World Heritage Laboratory, University of VirginiaДўDirector, IDIA Lab, Ball State University Link to Virtual HadrianвЂ™s Villa Walkthrough: Khan Academy Walkthrough of Virtual HadrianвЂ™s Villa: Link to the Digital HadrianвЂ™s Villa Project web site. The avatar system allows for visitors to enter the world selecting class and gender вЂ“ already being aware of the customs and behavior of the Roman aristocracy, soldier, slave or politician.

Learning communities are briefed on the culture and history of the villa and learn the virtual environment prior to immersing themselves within it. The interface provides learning, navigation, reporting and assessment opportunities and also allows users to change the position of the sun to any date inВ 130 AD using data from the Horizons database at JPL NASA вЂ“ testing theses of astro-alignments of architectural features during solstices and equinoxes. The project not only recreates the villa buildings but also includes a complete Roman avatar system, non-player characters with artificial intelligence, furniture, appropriate vegetation, dynamic atmospheric system and sophisticated user interface. The presentations will include previews of: The Center for Hellenic Studies, Ball State University, and Indiana University The Launch of theВ Digital HadrianвЂ™s Villa Project The webplayer versions of the HadrianвЂ™s Villa project are funded through a grant from the Mellon Foundation. The project launched at the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, DC on November 22, 2013. The project has been authored in the game engine of Unity as a live virtual multi-user online learning environment that allows students and visitors to immerse themselves in all aspects of the simulated villa. This large-scale recreation virtually interprets the entire villa complex in consultation with the worldвЂ™s foremost Villa scholars. Bernard Frischer and funded by the National Science Foundation. This project has been produced in collaboration with the Virtual World Heritage Laboratory (VWHL) at Indiana University (IU), directed by Dr. IDIA Lab has designed a virtual simulation of the villa of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site located outside of Rome in Tivoli, Italy. HadrianвЂ™s Villa Canopus Virtual World (single-player version): http: //idi alabp rojec ts.or g/hv/ hvope ning. HadrianвЂ™s Villa Canopus Virtual World (multi-player version):

Walking through the ville