The Ancient Olympic Games: Being Part of the Experience

Abstract

This paper presents the virtual reality applications that the Foundation of the Hellenic World has produced associated with the Olympic Games in ancient Greece. The separate virtual reality shows are presented in terms of interactivity and educational value. The technical aspects of the productions are next explained in detail, with an emphasis on character animation, dynamics and occlusion culling for surround screen projection environments. These techniques were mostly utilised in the recent production regarding the ancient pentathlon, where much effort has been made to recreate the feeling of the games and help the user/spectator be an interacting part of the edutainment activity.