Extending Virtual Heritage Beyond the Local Site, Creating An International Digital Network

Professor James Oliverio and DAS Graduate student Reeti Sompura presented a paper titled "Extending Virtual Heritage Beyond the Local Site" at the 9th International Conference on Virtual Systems and Multimedia (VSM 2003) in Montreal, Canada. The theme of the conference was “Hybrid Realities: Art, Technology and the Human Factor”.

Abstract
Built heritage (i.e. Architecture) is said to be one of the finest forms of human endeavor. Perhaps the idea of capturing time in a tangible form first prompted people to build monuments in a quest for immortality. Given the passage of time, however, there has been significant decay and loss of these historic structures. It is crucial that we preserve our past so that current and future generations can share in our common heritage. But given the widespread geographic locations of cultural heritage sites throughout the world, it is doubtful that any one individual would be able to visit every one of them. Concurrently, even though digital technology is allowing teams around the globe to model (and thus preserve) a number of these sites, there is not a standard format in which these models are built and viewed.