I really enjoyed the subject matter for this week. I do think that 3D imaging has a lot to offer museums in terms of accessibility as museums only have so much room to actually display things. Making the extended collections available online is much more helpful for those doing research interstate or internationally. It isn’t the same emotionally as seeing the item in person but I believe it offers a lot. It is also a good insurance as if the item happens to be damaged or the whole museum is lost you have a record that has been conserved and can be 3D printed such as the arch of triumph from Palmyra. I think this is important moving forward as humanity has already lost far too much of its past.
I love the idea of creating 3D worlds such as the recreation of life in Angkor I think that while it definitely has limits as to what is known and portrayed it is another way of making the past come to life. With time and increased immersion from VR perhaps they will allow people to connect with the past in ways which we are not yet capable of doing. Being able to walk around a WW1 trench and see what it was like or see how conditions on an old first fleet ship were are a couple of experiences I think would be quite powerful.
I recall footage of the game Rome Total War II being used in a documentary. I have seen it in multiple documentaries including one on Carthage being destroyed by Rome. It shows that there is a desire for these representations for use by historians. Since games generate revenue they tend to be able to have a high quality however this does bring up issues around profits and museums.
