Virtual tour of the "Saint Prophet Elijah the Prophet" Church in the Fabric District, Timișoara
VISIT THE EXHIBITION
Project Description
During the Orthodox religion class, seventh-grade students study, according to the school curriculum, about the communion of believers, the architecture and symbolism of the place of worship, as well as the evolution of Christian communities throughout history. In order for these notions not to remain only at an informative level, but to transform into real skills, the students were involved in a practical project focused on the specific elements of Orthodox churches and their role in the religious life of the community.
Starting from the idea that every Christian is a member of the Church, and the parish represents his spiritual family, the project included the realization of a pilgrimage in the school area. At the same time, emphasis was placed on the concept of family as a “home church” – the place where faith is lived daily through prayer, respect and love for one’s neighbor.
Knowing the role of the church in the community contributes to a deeper understanding of Christian values. In this knowledge-seeking endeavor, the students' steps were guided by priests from five parishes in the Fabric Area: Orthodox Parish "NAȘTEREA MAICII DOMNULUI" - Calea Lugojului Timișoara, Serbian Orthodox Parish SAINT MARTYR GHEORGHE - Piața Traian, Orthodox Parish "SAINT PARASCHEVA" - Tipografilor Timișoara, Orthodox Parish "SAINT ILIE TESVITEANUL" - Fabric Timișoara, ORTHODOX Parish "POGORÂREA SAINT DUH" - Fabric Vest
The church, as a place of worship, impresses through architecture and painting, each element having profound meanings. The icons, objects of worship and the organization of the interior space are meant to help the believer get closer to divinity and internalize the Christian message. By directly observing these elements, the students were able to make the connection between the theory studied in class and the concrete reality of religious life.
In conclusion, this project aims to develop respect for places of worship, to highlight the essential role of the Church in social life and to contribute to the formation of a responsible and conscious attitude towards the values of the Christian Orthodox faith.
The project is carried out by Digital Strada in collaboration with Cyberscanning.
About the project
The current project is the result of a multidisciplinary collaboration between Digital Strada (Emil Indricău), Cyberscanning (arch. Dinu Dan Răzvan), the religion teachers of the Shakespeare High School in Timișoara (prof. Nicoleta Dumitrașcu and prof. Văcariu Luminița) and the representative of the Church of St. Ilie (pr. Alic Daniel). The goal of this project is to create an immersive environment for transmitting educational information to new generations through contemporary technological environments - Virtual Reality. The results of this process of scanning and digitizing the physical environment are explored through Virtual Reality during religion classes using the educational equipment provided by the high school - ClassVR. Considering that the ClassVR system has a strictly educational purpose, within the Digital Strada/Cyberscanning team, we created an additional virtual tour using the Matterport system. The virtual tour can be visited within this web page. This project aims to present contemporary methods of capitalizing on built space with heritage value, for educational, cultural and social purposes.
Date Cuantificabile
• Colectarea datelor de pe teren (fotografii și stații laser): 5 ore
• Numărul de imagini pentru spațiul galeriei: 200 / Numărul de poziții ale stației laser: 47
• Prelucrarea datelor rezultate in urma scanarii (nor de puncte, mesh, textură, prelucrare imagini): 20 ore
About the process
Gallery
The scanning was performed using a Matterport pro 2 scanning process. The photos of the frescoes and freestanding paintings were taken with the Parrot Anafi drone.
All data was processed using the Matteport system to generate the virtual tour model of the space.
Post-processing of the photos was performed using Adobe Photoshop software.
Artistic components
The frescoes, paintings and decorative elements of particular value were photographed individually so that they could be viewed independently, either in the virtual tour or within the current presentation page.
The final step was to upload the 3D model of the gallery to Matterport and place all the 2D images within the tour, as points of interest (POI). In this way, the visitable virtual exhibition was created.
