Virtual World of the 18th-Century Regimental Stone House
The project preserves and popularizes the 18th-century regimental stone house in Pryluky, a unique Hetmanate-era landmark that can now be explored in virtual reality.
The regimental stone house in Pryluky was the first stone building in the town and is the only landmark of its kind to have survived in its authentic state. It once held documents, deeds and valuable papers of the regimental administration, and it later served as the model for the reconstructed stone house in Baturyn. We digitized the building using laser scanning, photogrammetry and aerial drone photography, and used the resulting high-precision 3D model to create a virtual tour.
The ground floor of the virtual stone house tells the story of the building. It presents:
- a floor plan of the stone house;
- maps of the Pryluky Regiment and the Pryluky Fortress;
- the 18th-century seal of the Pryluky Court;
- archival photographs from the early 20th century;
- animated portraits of Hetmans Bohdan Khmelnytsky and Ivan Mazepa;
- portraits of Colonels Petro Doroshenko, Ivan Samoilovych and Hnat Halahan.
The basement holds 3D models of ten 18th-century Cossack artifacts from the museum’s collection. Visitors can view the tour with VR headsets at the stone house and the museum, or online on the museum’s website. It comes with a Ukrainian-English audio guide.
Project goal:
To preserve the architectural image of the regimental stone house in digital form in case of damage. To make the landmark accessible to a wide audience, including researchers and international visitors. To bring the landmark, the museum’s Hetmanate-era collection and interactive technologies together in one virtual space, available both at the museum and online.
Key project stages:
- Carry out laser scanning of the regimental stone house.
- Conduct photogrammetric and aerial drone photography of the building.
- Create a high-precision color 3D model of the stone house.
- Develop a VR tour with an exhibition on the building’s history on the ground floor and 3D models of Cossack artifacts in the basement.
- Digitize the scribe’s field chest and the cuirass and add them to the eight 3D models created in 2023 as part of the “Virtual Museum” project.
- Integrate a Ukrainian-English audio guide into the tour.
- Set up VR headsets at the stone house and the museum, along with a screen for group tours that shows what the visitor sees in the headset.
- Create the “Historical Mirror” interactive: visitors try on a 3D model of Ukrainian women’s attire or chainmail with a misiurka helmet, take a photo and receive it by email or via a QR code.
- Make the virtual tour publicly available on the museum’s website.