Interactive virtual reconstructions: visualization and user interface design for installations in public venues

We present two case studies in which the objective was to accurately reconstruct a historically significant place no longer accessible to the public due to complete or partial destruction of the original environment. In both cases the desire was to present the reconstructions in a public venue for the purpose of enlightenment; to engage the audience in a deeper understanding of the information being presented in a museum environment and to put in context the artifacts seen in a collection with the source in which they originated. The objective was to build an interactive application in which the viewer can intuitively navigate the reconstructed space with an emphasis on conveying the content of the work in a relatively short amount of time.