Virtual Kyoto project: Digital diorama of the past, present, and future of the historical city of Kyoto

Abstract

Using the recently developed 3D GIS (Geographic Information System) and related visualisation technologies, we have created a digital diorama of an entire historical city, which can be used to virtually travel through different realistic landscapes at different times in the history. The digital diorama called Virtual Kyoto is the virtual geographic environment of the past, present, and future of the historical urban spaces in Kyoto City by constructing geotemporal-referenced 3D models of cityscape elements at different eras. In order to promote digital humanities studies on the arts and culture of traditional Kyoto, Virtual Kyoto is used as a digital platform for constructing a web-based digital museum interface with geographic data-linkages to numerous historical and cultural digital contents. We also explore the possibility of using Virtual Kyoto as an information environment to discuss the future of the historical city of Kyoto with the effects of city planning activities such as landscape policies or the possible damage due to disasters on historical landscapes. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.