A digital team at The Open University are celebrating after learning their interactive online tour of Pompeii before Mount Vesuvius erupted has notched up more than a million online clicks.
Designers within the OU’s Broadcast and Partnerships team were delighted when they learned of the interactive figures, just a month after the airing of the OU/BBC co-production of Pompeii: the new dig in April.
Viewers of the programme, now available on iPlayer, created in consultation with OU academics, saw how archaeologists were uncovering more secrets about the lives of people who perished in the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79.
The Forum as it is today
And they were then invited to follow the links to the OU Connect site, to take part in an interactive online journey to explore and learn what Pompeii was like before the eruption.
Digital marketing expert and designer Steff Easom worked closely with academics Phil Perkins, Professor of Archaeology, and Dr Emma-Jayne Graham, Senior Lecturer in Classical Studies, who were key to the project.
Steff said she was thrilled that months of work had reaped the rewards and thanked the two academics who were so instrumental: “They gave tonnes of feedback offering their specialist knowledge and opinion on the animations used.”
She said their intricate knowledge was invaluable, down to the removal of sunflowers and tomatoes on the mural wall of a digitally reconstructed bar since they were not available in the region at the time. “Everything was historically accurate,” added Steff.
Emma-Jayne said: “Visiting Pompeii simply isn’t possible for everyone, so it is really fantastic to know that we’ve been able to bring the ancient ruins into the homes of so many people through this interactive tour.”
And Phil added: “Once we’d come up with the concept of virtual reconstructions of the city’s buildings introduced by a time-travelling city guide, the challenge was to keep it authentic.
“Meticulous research into both cutting-edge research and discoveries made and published over 150 years ago, together with brilliant interactive design, brought the reconstructions to life.”
If you want to visit Pompeii digitally visit our Broadcast & Partnerships site OU Connect.
Picture credits: main picture of The Forum, The Open University; picture in the text from Ary6/iStock
