Walking into history

European researchers are developing a virtual Pompeii that can be explored ‘on foot’.

The computerised version of the ancient Roman city will be several kilometres long and the researchers claim the environment will be more convincing than today’s best computer games.

The Zurich-based team — which is also working on a virtual Sagalassos, an ancient Persian city — will use an omni-directional treadmill being developed at the Technical University of Munich.

Other developers of virtual environments have so far been unable to allow visitors to walk through their creations because omni-directional treadmills are so difficult to make.

The German team will develop both linear and circular treadmills before beginning work on the omni-directional device, in a three-year project.

Most people are familiar with linear treadmills which are widely available in gyms. But the devices needed for the Pompeii project have to be much larger to allow people to move through the streets of the city without noticing that they are effectively standing still.