Nottingham's caves get virtual reality treatment
Nottingham's network of caves has been turned into a virtual reality tour, to open them up to a wider audience.
The caves have been digitally reproduced as part of the city's first Festival of Caves. The tour will take in Mortimer's Hole under Nottingham Castle and King David's Dungeon - caves some people would not be able to access. The city has more than 500 man-made sandstone caves which have been used for dwellings and jail cells. Nottingham City councillor, Dave Trimble, said: "There are plenty of local people who don't know about the hidden world beneath their feet." He said the new virtual reality tour would allow visitors who were unable to descend the steep steps into the caves to experience them. Andrew Whitney of Hot Knife Digital Media, which developed the tour, said: "We've taken very accurate data to digitally reproduce the caves in a gaming environment. "We're excited to bring the caves into the 21st Century using the latest gaming and virtual reality technology, increasing the accessibility of these sites to everyone." A series of caves has been found in the past six years due to funded projects such the Nottingham Caves Survey, which mapped and laser-scanned many of them. The festival runs until 23 October. What lies beneath...