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urban environment modeling, that makes possible the realistic reconstruction of
places in the world beyond the insertion of tools for its interactive visualization and
simulation of diverse possible situations to happen in the real world. Moreover,
the previous construction of virtual urban environment, simulating real urban
environments, also it has been carried out in order to foresee and to prevent
problems.
The urban virtual models have been widely used as interfaces for information
systems. The VR makes possible the construction of sufficiently interactive models
and the association of other components as data base, Web pages and multimedia
components. Furthermore, it favors intuitive use as information repository, being
useful in virtual environments on tourism, art and culture, urban planning,
navigation systems, mechanical and structural tests, environmental and visual
impact, meteorology, among much others. For example, streets, quarters and,
even though, cities can be constructed and to divulge by Web for the virtual
tourism.
Another important aspect that can be explored by urban virtual models
construction is the preservation area of historic patrimony. Thus, we can use
these urban models as tool for the scientific documentation of urban areas of
historical interest, and also for the virtual reconstruction of monuments or not
preserved or partially preserved regions. Some initiatives, aiming at to the
scientific documentation of urban patrimony in digital way, have been developed
around of the world. The Conference of the VSMM (Virtual Systems and
Multimedia Society) opened, from 1998, a thematic session about virtual reality
techniques applied to historic patrimony, as well as the Seminary of the SIGraDi
(Latin American Digital Graphical society), from 1999, it started to include a
session about “Digital Patrimony/ Digital Heritage”. In 1996, deriving of VSMM
Society, the Virtual Heritage Network was created (net for studies dissemination
about the virtual patrimony). In 2002, UNESCO promoted a series of conferences
to celebrate 30o anniversary of Convention for Protection of the Humanity
Patrimony. The conference, occurred in Alexandria, exactly dealt with systems
of geographic and multimedia information applied to historic patrimony (Paraizo
et al. 2003). Consequently, we can observe the growth of virtual models use of
historic patrimony areas with intention to catalogue and to preserve data about