Look what has been done to preserve the basilica at Assisi – using videogame technology.

A trip to Italy to see the famous frescoes of the 13th-century Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi could cost a person a couple of thousand dollars. This summer, St. Louis University's Institute of Digital Theology can give you the same experience on a $50 compact disc.

Well, almost the same experience. Of course you won't get the smell of the Umbrian countryside, the sound of St. Francis' beloved birds or - most important - the taste of olive oil-soaked bread and prosciutto crudo with a glass of Orvieto. But if it's architectural and artistic detail you're after, two young professors from SLU's Theological Studies department will get you as close as you can get without visiting the real thing.

The duo is using the same technology that video game creators use "to get things to explode" to better illuminate the detail in the basilica's stained glass or ceiling crevices. "It's the minor details that make this a real experience," said Jay M. Hammond.

Hammond and James R. Ginther, the other half of the team, have used 5,000 digital images to map the basilica's upper church. Just as in any modern video game, users will be able to explore the space by controlling their own three-dimensional point of view. Hammond and Ginther also have added a feature that will allow a user to "fly" around the basilica to see details higher up in the church that wouldn't be visible to an actual visitor.

Money raised from the CD sales will allow the duo to do the same for the lower church, crypt and the entire outside of the basilica. "This is version 1.0.," said Ginther. Version 2.0 will allow users to travel between levels and through the actual hallways and byways of the basilica. The St. Francis project is a pilot program and is being used to launch the Institute of Digital Theology.

I stand amazed and awed at the use of the profane to preserve the sacred.

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