Added: Jan 6, 2009

From: NTDTV

Duration: 2:10

ZHANG: Tourists visiting ancient Rome will soon be able to totally immerse themselves in the daily life of the city. A new high-tech 3-D theatre will soon open allowing visitors to become virtual actors in history.STORY: For most tourists the ancient Roman ruins of the Colosseum and the Forum don't reveal much about life in those days. Now a new high-tech show will provide for the first time a 3-D sense of what life was like for plebeians and gladiators in ancient Rome. "3D Rewind Rome" sucks the visitor back in time to 310 AD, the reign of Emperor Maxentius.Joel Myers is the managing director of the hi-tech entertainment firm Virtuality.[Joel Myers, Managing Director]:"When the audience comes and watches the show they get a really immersive feeling of how it was like to be in ancient Rome as if you were an actor on the stage of history. We have 3-D technology based on animation." Sapientus a tubby, balding, toga-clad 3-D Roman guides the traveler through a detailed virtual model of the city. The 3-D effects dramatically and realistically portray gladiatorial scenes in the Colosseum. Trumpets and screaming fans bring the show to a climax when the audience demands a thumbs-up or thumbs-down from the Emperor.Olivia Menaguale is an art historian for the project.[Olivia Menaguale, Art Historian]:"So what we are trying to do is we are trying to reveal not only the monuments but the life that was taking place in them" Smoke, grime, graffiti and street scenes involving 60,000 "avatars" or virtual characters, give visitors a 30-minute taste of what life was probably like in ancient Rome. You get a peeping-tom's view of the Vestal Virgins, watch a rowdy Senate debate and walk the streets of plebeian district Suburra. Many who watch the show will be struck by comparisons with everyday life. One of the scenes shows a Roman-style financial crisis in the Forum, with guide Sapientus loosing all his gold.

Channel: Entertainment

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