Historical preservation through Virtual Reality? Is this possible?

Question

There are several places in the world which I'd really like to see - famous monuments, castles, ancient buildings, etc. But at this point, it isn't feasible or possible for me to travel there. For the interest of both historical preservation and for people like me, it would seem like there would be some movement to create a "virtual" reproduction of famous places. I mean, something 3D on a computer that you could walk around and look at the buildings, explore around a bit, maybe view the artwork inside, etc. The only thing close to this that I've encountered is with Encarta, which has a couple of 3D exploreable places.

My question is: Would it be possible to create an as-close-to-life as possible virtual reality reproduction of a physical place?
Also, are there any such projects out there?

I guess I'd like to see the world without having to get on a plane and go there physically...

Answer 1

Yes, I'm sure that some fairly high-quality VR will be available within the next decade, and should keep improving for as long as computing power keeps increasing. I would add that, in addition to historical preservation (which is a great idea, by the way), things like the fairly current state of all sorts of locations should become possible. You should soon be able to take a virtual reality tour of many famous locations - and perhaps even parts of the surfaces of the moon and mars. The link below tells about the different kinds of VR possibilities.

Answer 2

It is an idea that is entirely possible and is becoming more likely each day. Some estate agents (Realtors) are using a similar technique as an aid to sell large homes. As the technology becomes available we will see what you describe occurring. Further we may even be able to catch a moment in time like a stroll down the Thames Embankment in the autumn of 2006 captured forever in virtual reality forever.