Virtual Venta has been developed by the University of Nottingham, Jam Creative Studios, and the Norfolk Archaeological Trust as a pilot project for the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s (AHRC) Next Generation of Immersive Experiences scheme.
The project uses data from the University of Nottingham’s research project at Venta Icenorum to create a visitor experience that draws directly on the archaeological evidence for the buildings and the people of Roman Venta. Although reconstructions always involve use of the imagination, every aspect of the reconstruction and characters is based on material found at Venta itself or at similar sites. The Latin language spoken by the characters draws on the work of the European Research Council’s Latin Now project (charting the spread of Latin across the Roman Empire) and is an attempt to recreate the Latin that might have been spoken in Roman Britain.
The reconstruction depicts the forum in around AD 275. Like many fora in this period it was becoming increasingly decrepit. We have shown activities that we know were present at Venta, although not necessarily in the forum. We have also populated it with characters, some of which are based directly on the skeletal evidence from the site. We know that some of the people were not born locally and it is likely that in common with many towns in Roman Britain, some of Venta’s inhabitants came from across the Roman Empire.
The project was designed to investigate some of the technical challenges of delivering an immersive VR experience via mobile devices and to evaluate audience responses to this approach to presenting the site. We welcome comments and feedback.