Description
VIRTUAL REALTY:
Virtual Reality by Dr. Rebeka Vital does two things and it does them well.
It's a biography of a building complex and by extension the people who occupied it or conducted their affairs there. The other is a historical document that reconstructs a building, its ambient sound, people, cultures and histories. Without it this piece of Greek, Jewish, architectural and part of Thessaloniki itself would be gone, gone forever in an unmarked grave.
The use of virtual reality as a tool that whisks the viewer to a land that maybe a great distance away and long gone in the past is wonderful achievement. It facilitates sharing information it transcends language barriers and can also be used as a commercial tool to evaluate interaction of viewers with a past or future, not yet constructed, buildings, towns, theaters etc... I'm sure that one day virtual actors will occupy virtual reality models. Imagine flying though a building seeing people, all textured with the era's clothing, faces made from old photographs and hearing them talk...
The use of sound in the model is a breakthrough that brings yet another dimension to a synthetic model aiding it in mimicking life. Note the use of background sound as ambient light and localize sounds as spot lights - how illuminating...
I'll no longer walk next to any building; tower or any men made items, even a chair, and be oblivious. There is a story of those who commissioned, designed, used and reused those items. I'll listen to old and new buildings alike...