Using VR to Explore Historical Sites
As someone who has always been fascinated with art & architectural history, I have always wanted to go to all of the many world heritage sites, but many of them are remote and hard to get to. Also, let's face it, we don't all have the cash to travel to the various different corners of the world to see these things in person. That is why I have always thought that VR needs to be used to bring those experiences to us, virtually. The technology is already there, and fortunately there are people out there who are creating the content of these types of sites. A next step that I hope to see is for ruins to be recreated in virtual reality in their original form, so we can experience them as they were intended. Come on! Wouldn't that be awesome?
Recently I have found some resources that really help us to get closer to the scenario that I am describing above. A company called CyArk has teamed with Google to digitally preserve many of the worlds most precious sites. That means 3d models with photographs attached. They make these available for FREE!
Watch the video to see how to take these models into a VR experience using UE4. Then, follow the link to experience it for yourself, assuming you've got a proper headset.
Find the .exe HERE
