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Check out the video below to get more details on how to use the app.
After more than five years, the BYU Virtual Scripture Group (with tremendous support from the LDS Motion Picture Studios) has released an immersive 3D experience of Jerusalem at the time of Jesus.
The app is available for free download on Macs and PCs at virtualscriptures.org or for mobile devices by searching for “Virtual New Testament” in the iOS App Store or the Google Play Store.
Once you download the app to your device you have a variety of options.
Click on the “City of Jerusalem” button for an overview map of Jerusalem at the time of Jesus. You’ll see a number of pulsating, clickable location icons. The one with the square box hovering over the temple allows you to walk through the temple at the time of Jesus. The remainder of the location icons give you 360-degree gyroscope views of those areas.
For example, if you click the location north of the temple, you’ll see an overview of the Pool of Bethesda. Use your finger (or mouse) to move the viewer from left to right. On some devices you can click the “window” icon on the bottom right and now your device functions as a window to your view. As you physically move your mobile device to the left and right, or up and down, the internal gyroscope adjusts your view as if you were in a transparent globe, hovering over that part of the city.
As you view this location you’ll notice gray clickable circles. These provide additional information to enlighten your experience. For example, if you click the gray circle hovering above the Pool of Bethesda, you’ll learn about the pool and be reminded that Jesus healed a lame man at this location (John 5).
While in the viewer mode, you can instantly jump to other gyroscope views by clicking on the eye-icons that hover over various features.
If you’d prefer to remove the location and description icons from your visual experience simply click the location icon to the left of the location name. Click again and the icons and labels reappear.
To return to the overview map, click the far top left icon that has a circle encompassing a stylized compass. To return to the intro/homepage, click the stylized compass again. At the homepage you can use the “Settings” button to adjust sounds and visuals.
From the home screen, you can select “Temple Mount” to experience a gound-level walkthrough of Herod’s Temple at the time of Jesus. You can move around the temple courtyards and inner sanctuary by tapping the ground where you want to walk. You can change your view by swiping left/right and up/down.
Quick navigation within the Temple Mount is possible by tapping/clicking on the column-icon in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. This allows you to instantly relocate to one of eight different locations in the temple.
We welcome feedback which you can share via the “Credits & Feedback” page or by visiting us at virtualscriptures.org.