The city of Rome is one of the most popular destinations in the world owing to its culture, architecture, and especially the art that remains from its ancient citizens. Every year millions of people visit the travertine stone remains of the Coliseum, the Roman Forum, and other sites, wondering what life must have been like at the height of the empire.

Bernard Frischer, Ph.D., of the University of Virginia and the Virtual World Heritage Laboratory employs 3-D technologies to answer that question. In 2007 he initiated the “Rome Reborn” project to build a 3-D digital version of the original Rome, circa 320 A.D. Today he is directing the Digital Sculpture Project to exploit 3-D scanning and modeling technologies for the “capture, representation, and interpretation” of ancient sculpture.

During the past year, Direct Dimensions worked with Frischer’s team to digitally re-create a famous life-size marble sculpture of the Emperor Caligula from first-century Rome. This project resulted in a unique combination of 3-D technologies and academic research.

 …