Imagine standing in the middle of Angkor Thom in Cambodia, located next to Angkor Wat, the largest religious monument in the world, and seeing the ancient capital come to life in its entirety in front of you in three dimensions — the way it looked back in the 12th century.

This is exactly what University of Tokyo professor Katsushi Ikeuchi is attempting to do at his laboratory at the university's Institute of Industrial Science.

His research, with that of others at the nation's top university, known as Todai for short, is gradually being introduced abroad by foreign media through its Todai Research project, initiated in 2011 by the university's public relations office.