Experience Digs Virtually

Archaeology and Digital Humanities at the University of Bonn join forces in international project. Snapshot of a Classical Archaeology seminar - at the University of Bonn using VR glasses. Photo: ViCo project/Philippe Kluge all images in original size . How do you explore an excavation site without being there in person? The Classical Archaeology team and the Bonn Center for Digital Humanities at the University of Bonn want to use new digital tools such as 3D technologies and virtual reality in their research and teaching. Their researchers are collaborating with the Universities of Amsterdam and Oslo and the Open University of the Netherlands in an international project entitled "Virtual Worlds in Teaching Archaeology." The European Union is co-financing the project to the tune of some €400,000 over the next three years. The use of digital documentation methods in research and teaching is growing ever more important in the field of archaeology. Just as they have elsewhere in Europe, local initiatives have also been springing up at the University of Bonn that harness the new digital possibilities three-dimensional (3D) technology and virtual reality (VR) offer research and teaching in the archaeological subjects.