Life Of Navin

We all have, at some point over the last few years used Google Earth to have a look at the neighborhood from a bird's perspective, accept it!! Now you can catch a glimpse of the ancient Roman neighborhood using the same tool.

While satellites weren't around to give us a bird's eye view of the city in 320 A.D., Google's "Ancient Rome 3-D" offers a 3D simulation of the ancient city at the height of its glory. The new layer for the tool allows virtual time-traveling tourists to fly around the city and zoom in to explore ancient structures as they likely looked at the time, including the Colosseum, the Forum, and the Circus Maximus. Pop-up windows offer historical information, and are written by experts on Ancient Rome. Developed in collaboration with researchers at the University of California and the University of Virginia, the project is the first ancient city to be incorporated into Google Earth.

The computer graphics are based on the Plastico di Roma Antica, a plaster model that was created by Italian architect Italo Gismondi and finished three years before his death in 1974. The digitization project began in 1997 and took 10 years to complete. It then took 15 people the better part of a year to transfer the project on to the Web.

Check out this Youtube video showcasing the Ancient Roman city in Google Earth:



I'm just waiting for Google to come up with a 3-D map of India during the Harappan civilization or during the Mughal era.....Its sure to leave quite a few mouths gaping in amazement!!