“A Personal Walk Through Historical Simulation Modeling at UCLA” by Diane Favro described UCLA’s efforts to create a digital technologies to study Roman architecture and culture. “For the Romans, walking, thinking, and memory were inextricably intertwined”, and Favro and some colleagues wanted to reflect this through reproducing historical Roman architecture. The UCLA Cultural Virtual Reality Lab (CVRLab) and the Experimental Technologies Center (ETC) have worked together since the 90s to try to accomplish this. In the beginning, they held showings at the UCLA Visualization Portal, which was a theater with surround sound and a large semi-spherical screen that “gives the audience a sense of immersion in the projected models”. Since then, the teams have made an interactive website in 2003, and their 3D models have been featured in Google Earth Ancient Rome 3D in 2008.
Over Thanksgiving break my parents and 11 year-old sister visited me in LA. My sister wanted to go to Disneyland, and since my parents were sick of even the idea, they dropped me off with her. I was reminded of theme park simulators after reading about the UCLA Visualization Portal being used for 3D Roman models of ancient building. Soarin’ Over California, a ride I did just last week, uses 3D simulation so that riders feel like they’re actually soaring over the Golden Gate Bridge or Half Dome.
The CVRLab team had many issues, as Favro mentioned in her article, with the UCLA Visualization Portal. Viewers familiar with the historical spaces or those with gaming experience would become disoriented in the environments. This prompted the CVRLab team to add a map that shows the position and orientation while in the middle of the simulation. But then the map took away the feeling of actually being in the environment.
Although the CVRLab eventually produced successful contributions to 3D modeling and the UCLA Visualization Portal was a decade before well-developed simulators came out, Soarin’ Over California was an immediate success in 2001. Guests are lifted in seats in a forward position so that the look into the large, concave movie screen. Subtle movements of the seats are synchronized with the film to mimic the feeling of flight. Scents are projected in various scenes, and wind is blown in riders’ faces.
It’s interesting to see the differences in how 3D modeling simulation and simulation in general is used for different purposes. It’ll be especially interesting where the future of simulation is headed (The Matrix, anyone?).