Filming wraps up for virtual
tour of St. Peter’s Basilica

IN the enormous interior of Christianity’s largest church, a tiny black camera perched on a tall tripod was quietly whirring, mapping bit by bit almost every detail inside St. Peter’s Basilica.

While thousands of tourists streamed through the basilica Jan. 27, a special team from Villanova University was cordoned off from the crowds, wrapping up the last day of shooting images for one of several virtual tour projects they have been producing for the Vatican.

“As the camera goes around it’s taking at each angle setting 30 pictures, then it’ll tilt down and take another 30 pictures,” explained Robert Beck, chairman of the department of computer sciences and one of many Villanova staff members and students involved in the virtual tour project.

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