Demonstration for museum staff and studentsMiletus at the MKG

21 July 2022

Photo: Frank Hildebrandt

Members of staff and archeology students at the museum trying the VR application

The VR reconstruction of the ancient theatre of Miletus is intended to facilitate the work of researchers, but also to give other target groups low-threshold insights into scientific work. The application was recently presented for the first time outside the CSMC at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe

If you want to comprehend the full meaning of inscriptions like those in the ancient theatre of Miletus, you not only have to know what they say, but also where they are located. The spatial context provides valuable information about the authors, the addressees, and the significance of an inscription. With the virtual reconstruction of the theatre of Miletus, which is being developed at CSMC as part of the project ‘Immersive City Scripts: Inscriptions and the Construction of Social Spaces in Miletus (Asia Minor)’, scholars can access this information at anytime and anywhere – instead of having to organise a research trip to Turkey.

Not only scholars benefit from this application. VR can also open up new learning opportunities for students, provide audiences beyond the university with an easily accessible and interactive insight into research, and offer them an immersive experience of an ancient site. For example, museum visitors can learn about the theatre from a new perspective in VR.

In order to evaluate user experiences of the VR reconstruction outside of a direct research context, Jenny Gabel and Lauren Osthof offered a demonstration at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe (MKG) on 23 June. On the museum side, the event was organised by Frank Hildebrandt, who is the museum’s curator for ancient art and antiquities. After two internal demonstrations in late 2021 and another on the CSMC’s Open Day on 10 and 11 June, this was the fourth demonstration of the VR application, the second public one and the first outside the CSMC.

Further possibilities, prospects, and the potential of the VR application are also addressed in the CSMC’s new image film, in which Christof Berns, Kaja Harter-Uibopuu and Frank Steinicke explain the background and goals of the ‘Immersive City Scripts’ project (starting at 10:30 minutes).