Project

WMF commissioned GeoSim Systems to undertake an advanced virtual reality mapping project along a section of Route 66 in South Pasadena, California, to demonstrate the effective of this technology for highlighting the importance of Route 66, its many historic treasures, and also its ability to provide practical information to tourists, urban planners, developers and cultural resource managers. This pilot project could be expanded along any or all portions of Route 66, as well as other historic corridors, The system uses a combination of global positioning data, computer-controlled 360-degree laser scanners, and digital videography. The result is a three-dimensional, web-enabled, interactive, virtual-reality video tour.

This virtual reality pilot demonstration serves several aims. As an innovative means of documentation, it is an important addition to the preservation toolbox for recording and inventorying heritage structures, particularly in densely populated urban areas. Testing this particular tool was important to WMF and to the Route 66 cause because of its highly interactive quality. A key to successful preservation is connecting people and places and engaging community participation in heritage stewardship. This virtual reality system is geared directly toward the public experience and allows business owners, residents, municipal governments, and others to connect and add to the online resource, whether through posting community data, uploading daily menus of their restaurants, or traveling through Route 66 as an avatar. It therefore serves would-be travelers as well as local residents.

This pilot demonstration is envisioned as an opportunity to foster a more robust constituency along Route 66 and, hopefully, to encourage the expansion of the virtual reality documentation across the eight states that are connected by Route 66.

Take a Virtual Reality Tour of a Segment of Route 66 (277 MB application/512 MB RAM required)