The Multi Mega Book in the Cave - Walk Through
The user starts by leafing through thepages of the Multi-Mega Book.
Three of the Pictures are "active". If you enter the book through the first active page ...
You fly over a globe and land in the Ideal City.
If you turn around the globe and your entry path has disappeared.
In their place is a virtual Renaissance city, filled with buildings from
various Italian cities.
In the middle is the Santa Maria del Fiore of Florence. As you walk towards it, Nem
pops out of a blue column and leads you to the stairs that climb
up to the dome for a view of the entire city.
From the top of the dome, three transparent pathways bring you to different
places of interest in the city.
If you take the path to the Rompiazza you may encounter Nem again as he jumps away from the
famous statue in the center.
If you take the path to Santa Maria della Grazie (actually in Milan),
you can enter the Cathedral and watch its structure grow up around you in wire-frame.
A light beam transports you to the Chiostro, where you can walk across the
courtyard to the Refetorio...
In the Refetorio you can see Leonardo's famous Last Supper, in this virtual reality it's possible to go
inside the painting, and watch a 3D Judas as he leaves the table.
If you take the path towards the Laurenciano, you can pass Nem dancing in a stream
of letters.
Inside the Laurenciano you will find Guttenberg's atelier. You can use the press to print.
The MMB in the CAVE, contrast the Renaissance world, with its information revolution
that was spurred on by the invention of the printing press, with today's digital
information age. From Guttenberg's atelier you have access to a CD city of the future.
In the CD City you meet up with Nem again, but now he doesn't run around bringing you
information. Instead he sends out disks that fly around the environment and bring
information and change back to you. The user clicks on the blue column and
controls what the environment looks like.
The CD City is in fact 4 cities, one re-reflects interest with the Renaissance, one
re-interprets the printing revolution, one represents networked and digital culture,
the last city represents nature and the Amazon rain forests and speaks to
our increasing concern with the dangers of our technology and the need to create sustainable
technology.
