By Sacha Pfeiffer and Lynn Jolicoeur, May 7, 2012, 5:5
3D has become all the rage in movies and computer games, but the technology isn’t just for entertainment. Researchers at Harvard University and the Museum of Fine Arts are turning it into a learning tool, too. Beginning Tuesday, they’re offering you a free 3D virtual tour of the ancient pyramids of Egypt.
“I don’t play video games,” Peter Der Manuelian said with a laugh. “This is as close as I’ll ever come, but it’s great fun.”
Manuelian is one of the brains behind this project, called Giza 3D. He’s been fascinated by ancient Egypt ever since fourth-grade history, and he eventually turned that childhood fascination into a profession: he’s Harvard’s full-time Egyptologist. In a classroom with a curved floor-to-ceiling screen, he gave me some fancy battery-operated 3-D glasses.
“So put the glasses on, and then push the button,” he instructed, “and if the image gets a little darker, you’ll know that things are working.”
And with that, I get a taste of what anyone with an Internet connection and 3D TV will soon be able to experience...Animated image of a tomb at the Giza pyramids in Egypt, taken from the new interactive website that allows users to take a virtual tour of the pyramids and learn about objects Harvard archaeologists discovered in them. (Courtesy)
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