From Uncertainty to Virtual Reality: Knowledge Representation in Rome Reborn
Paper given by Philip Stinson (University of Kansas)
Given at the University of Kansas on September 24, 2011
Graphic representations of ancient Rome have become more visually powerful in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries with the innovations afforded by digital technologies, but the use value of these images is under debate today. This paper explores the interplay among different types of knowledge representation, an under-theorized area of research in the digital humanities, in the acclaimed Rome Reborn project, now also known as Ancient Rome 3D in Google Earth. Rome Reborn is perhaps the largest and most complex visualization endeavor in the digital humanities to date. The author of this paper belonged to the original project team (UCLA 1999-2001) and is on the Scientific Committee of the current iteration (UVA). Rome Reborn incorporates distinct classes of knowledge
