Virtual Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi

Virtual Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi (VB1) is a virtual reconstruction of the Upper Church of the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi (Italy). The reconstruction is a combination of 3D (game engine) modeling and over 4,000 digital images of the Upper Church--all captured prior to the disastrous earthquake of 1997. The model is also real-time interactive so the user can choose to move through the model according to his/her own interests or curiosity. The model is fully accessible through walk and fly modes. The application also has text integrated into the environment, which describes each artistic object (and several other objects therein) and provides, where possible, the literary source(s) for the nature and/or content of the object. Users have access to additional materials (summary descriptions of the space, bibliography, chronologies, schematic maps, etc). Users can toggle between 1st/3rd person points of view.