Hi-tech scheme for county's Roman city

An ancient Roman city in Shropshire is set to trial cutting-edge technology in a world-first which could help transform it into an interactive classroom for students.

In a new partnership between English Heritage and electronics giant Sony, the historic site of Viroconium or Wroxeter, once the fourth largest city in Roman Britain, could be brought to life with people able to see what the thriving metropolis once looked like.

Using PlayStation Portable technology and features such as video, a live broadcast, streaming, recording and photography, it will provide a fully interactive learning project.

In future people will be able to drive the content, live documentaries will be able to be filmed and beamed back to schools and experts will be able to beam talks and tours to schools and onsite users.

Walls will be able to be re-built and layers of ground removed to reveal hidden archaeology.

Historical characters and the sights and sounds of properties in their heyday should also be able to be recreated, with full audio, video, sign and text.

David Sheldon, educational manager for the region for English Heritage, said it was a very exciting project.

He said: "The time scales at the moment are not decided and we have just had a few initial meetings between myself and Connection Education who work with Sony and approached us about it.

"If you imagine the PSP as the platform with the addition of a camera this device can trigger all sorts of different media content such as audio, video and texts.

He added: "It can also use something called semicodes which are like advanced barcodes.

"It looks like a crossword puzzle and if you can imagine someone walking across Wroxeter who sees it on the floor it can record it as them picking up a Roman sandal or another artefact which may have been found there."

Sony has trialed the units, content and impact in schools, but this will be the first time that it has attempted to overcome the challenges presented by a heritage site and mesh the technology with a site such as Wroxeter.

English Heritage says that if the pilot is successful it could be rolled out to other heritage sites in the future.

Wroxeter began as a legionary fortress and later developed into a thriving civilian city, populated by retired soldiers and traders.