| From May
1998-August 1999,
I have worked as a project manager with Georgia Tech's Virtual
Environments
Group and the
Technological
Research Institute of the University of
Santiago de Compostela in developing the hardware
and content for the Santiago
2000 project. Santiago de Compostela (Spain) has since the early
middle-ages
been one of the first, and most important pilgrimage sites for the
Christian
world. It is said to house the remains of the Apostle Saint James,
brought
from Palestine after his death in 42 A.D. Since 1120 A.D., Santiago has
enjoyed special privilege, first granted by Pope Calixto II in a Papal
Bull (Registerna). On the years where the day of Saint James (July
25th)
falls on a Sunday, those who visit the Cathedral will be granted the
same
graces as those attained in Rome. The millenium´s final
Xacobean
year occurs in 1999. Santiago has additional reason to celebrate, as it
has been chosen to be one of nine cultural
capitals of the European Union for the year 2000.
To celebrate
these two events,
along with the general euphoria of the new millennium, the Santiago
2000 Project will produce a virtual environment that recreates the
Plaza de Obradoiros in Santiago in addition to several other areas
surrounding
this main plaza. The environment will include detailed visual models of
the squares. Furthermore, visitors will hear the church bells,
bagpipes,
conversations and singing troubadours as they stroll through the city.
Santiago
2000 demonstrates that a PC-based system can support real-time, high
quality, large-screen, stereoscopic imagery.
|
