Synagogue Modeling Project Report: a Multi-faceted Approach to 3D, Academic Modeling

Abstract

With the click of a button, my body is transported through time and space. A flicker of light catches my eye. I look up. Flames dance upon the plaster walls, casting eerie shadows on the mosaic floor upon which I stand. I am in a synagogue. An ancient synagogue. Yet at the same moment, in the same space, I am also standing in my office. I feel like I could reach out and touch the mosaic floor. As I try to do so, I notice another hand stretching forth, a hand that is stylized in the mosaic below me. It is the hand of God, reaching from the heavens to stay Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac. I am standing in the ancient synagogue of Beth Alpha on a mosaic scene depicting the Aqedah of Genesis 22. I get on my hands and knees to examine the scene more closely. Each tessera of the mosaic stands out more clearly as my eyes draw nearer to the floor. I can almost count each individual piece of stone. I begin to count, but a sound from another world snaps me back to reality. My phone is ringing. I remove the virtual reality (VR) headset as my office comes back into focus. The light from the flicker of ancient oil lamps is overtaken by the luminescence of a lightbulb. I have removed myself from Beth Alpha but Beth Alpha has not yet left my memory. The distance between objects, the number of steps I traveled, and how the moonlight poured through the windows – these are some of the experiences I remember from my time exploring one of the 3D environments created for study with virtual reality.