Hadrian's Villa Launch at the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies in DC

IDIA Lab has designed a virtual simulation of the villa of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site located outside of Rome in Tivoli, Italy. This project has been produced in collaboration with the Virtual World Heritage Laboratory (VWHL) at Indiana University (IU), directed by Dr. Bernard Frischer and funded by the National Science Foundation. This large-scale recreation virtually interprets the entire villa complex in consultation with the world’s foremost Villa scholars. The project has been authored in the game engine of Unity as a live virtual multi-user online learning environment that allows students and visitors to immerse themselves in all aspects of the simulated villa.
The Hadrian’s Villa project launched on November 22, 2013 at the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, DC. The Center for Hellenic Studies hosted a digital technology party not only to celebrate the Hadrian’s Villa launch but also the opening of its own new and improved House A, the Center’s School House and Laboratory where fellow learners of every generation gather to understand and preserve the cultures of the ancient world. The project was the perfect vehicle with which to inaugurate this space and to celebrate the architectural vision of a Roman Emperor who certainly loved Hellas dearly.

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