Re-creating a lost village in 3D space [virtual reality]

Robert Benfer, an anthropologist at the University of Missouri, is using 3D virtual reality software to take his students two places: Peru and the pre Columbian past. Benfer is using 3D authoring software developed by MultiGen Inc. of San Jose, California, to reconstruct the ancient fishing village of Paloma, Peru, which he first visited in 1976 and has since made part of his life's work. It is perhaps the oldest village in the New World. The site he is currently re creating dates from about 3,400 BCE, but archaeological evidence at Paloma dates back another three millennia before that. Knowing that models can make it easier for students and researchers to understand physical aspects of the village, Benfer has made physical reconstructions before. Now, working part time with some of the university's programmers on Silicon Graphics Onyx and Infinite Reality machines, he has built a 3D computer model that lets him link the visual data to other resources.