Stepping back in time visitors
to the Virtual Archaeological Museum (MAV) will experience the sights and
sounds of an ancient Roman city.
The MAV simulates daily life of
the ancient coastal city of Herculaneum, destroyed by Mt. Vesuvius
2,000 years ago.
Constructed over three years, at
a cost of approximately 10 million euro, the museum features over 70 multimedia
installations. Cutting-edge software in the installations recognizes visitors
on the basis of the tags they receive on entry, distinguishing kids from
adults, foreigners from Italians.
Following a route through the
museum’s 3D reconstructions, simulations, and holograms, visitors wander
through the city’s public baths, villas and houses, a marketplace, a brothel,
and a perfumery. Scents of spices and other smells waft from the scenes, and
voices of Herculaneum’s residents call out.
Just south of Naples, the museum occupies an old
school just 100 metres from the archaeological site. The city of Herculaneum was destroyed in the same
eruption that devastated Pompei on August 24, 79 AD.
