Virtual Angkor is an online digital modeling and simulation project created by team members from SensiLab, Monash University, Duke University, and Flinders University. The project aims to bring back to life the ancient Cambodian city of Angkor through a number of different digital media, including Virtual Reality and 360° video, in order to provide an immersive and authentic experience of the city, including its inhabitants.

Sources

The creators of Virtual Angkor were able to get an intimate view into the Khmer society of Angkor through one of the very few written sources from the time period: A first-hand written account from a Chinese diplomat, Zhou Daguan, who lived in Angkor from 1296 to 1297. In A Record of Cambodia, Daguan gives details at the time which the creators of the project were able to use to reconstruct various aspects of the Cambodian society, though they note that Zhou was an outsider to the Khmer Empire so his accounts may not always be completely accurate or reliable.

In addition to written accounts, the team drew on data from archaeological surveys, photographic archives, textile studies, and botanical references as sources for their work in reconstructing Angkor.

Processes

One of the most important ways that the creators of the project processed the data from those sources was creating 3D digital models based on photographs, extensive archaeological surveys, and maps of temples, roads, landscapes, and more. While I was not able to find the specific tools or techniques that they used to create these models, they say that their models were carefully handmade with reference to the historical sources which they represent.

Presentation

The results of this processing of the sources are available as both an online simulation and a series of teaching modules built from the simulation. The simulation takes the form of a 24 hour period in the city and can be viewed in two ways; either from any computer in the form of a panoramic 360-degree video or as a VR experience using Virtual Reality headsets like Google Daydream.

The presentation of the digital reconstruction of Angkor is complete with simulations of the city’s inhabitants. Thousands of animated human and animal ‘agents’ are presented in simulation as they enter, exit, and move about the city.