Ancient Olympia as a Three Dimensional Experience

In conjunction with the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, and the associated Cultural Olympics, the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (also known as the Powerhouse Museum) is hosting an exhibition 1000 Years of the Olympic Games - Treasures of Ancient Greece. Two integral components of this exhibition were virtual reality based displays, one on the reconstructed ancient city and another on the Statue of Zeus/Poseidon from the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. This paper will present the techniques and experiences used in the production of a 3d immersive narrated tour of the ancient city, and the development of the associated material for presentation on the Internet. It will also detail the approaches undertaken to digitise the Statue of Zeus using an hand held laser scanner, and the processing of this data into a high resolution model suitable for interactive display. It will cover the exhibition design process, and the technology employed to give museum visitors a 3d experience of the ancient environment of Olympia. The project has received substantial media coverage, and the exhibition has also been short-listed for a BAFTA award for the associated web site, and has won the best virtual world heritage award at the VSMM conference in Japan.