X-DreamersTranscript
0:001. What the Bible Labs are
Bible Labs are free tools for studying the Bible: places rebuilt in 3D, like the Tabernacle or Jerusalem in Holy Week, and maps, timelines and word studies. They run in the browser, on a computer or a phone.
They sit beside your Bible, not in place of it. Every lab works the same way: look at the place, read the verses behind it, then weigh how sure we can be. Each detail says whether the text gives it or it's our reconstruction.
0:402. Finding a lab
All the labs are on one page, xdreamers.com/labs. The buttons above the list sort them by kind: Step inside, for the places in 3D, then Maps & journeys, People & time, Words & Hebrew, and Children. You can also pick a book of the Bible, or what it's for, like Class & Sunday school.
Each card shows what kind of lab it is, its version, and what's inside. Teach this opens the lab as a slideshow for the projector; more on that later.
Reading a particular passage? Type it in the box at the top, like Exodus 25, and it opens that chapter, or a 3D stop when there is one. Further down, Start from a verse opens one verse door by door: when, where, the place, and how it has been read.
Just below are the chapter guides, which open the scenes and maps for a chapter such as Exodus 25, a guide for teachers, and a page on how we build the labs.
1:483. The parts of a lab page
Let's open the Tabernacle. Every lab page starts with its name and a few lines on what it covers, with the text version and Share on the right.
In the middle is the 3D view. Nothing here is a video: you can turn it, zoom in, and click on anything in it.
Above it is the toolbar. These buttons jump to set views, and the switches you need less often are folded away under More.
In the corner of the view sit the tools: How sure, Teach this, save a picture, Lite 3D for slower computers, the controls tour, and full screen. We'll try each of them.
On the right, the side panel lists everything in the scene by name. Pick one and the view goes to it, with its description, its measurements and the verses behind it.
Further down are tools for using the lab in class, the Bible chapters it covers, the evidence for each part, and the sources.
2:554. Moving around in 3D
To look around, hold the mouse button down and drag. The scene turns with you, so you can see it from any side.
Scroll to zoom in and out. On a laptop trackpad, slide two fingers up or down.
Click any part of the scene to find out what it is. Here it's the tent's outer covering: its name, what it was made of, and how sure we can be.
If you get lost, the view buttons bring you back. Courtyard, Holy Place, Holy of Holies: one click and the camera flies there.
Some labs have switches of their own. In the Tabernacle the coverings come off one at a time, down to the bare frame.
4:005. The guided tour
If you're not sure where to begin, start the tour. It's the easiest way in: the lab takes you round, one stop at a time.
Each stop says where you are and what to look at, and the camera moves for you. The Tabernacle has twenty-five stops, from the camp of Israel to the ark.
Press Next when you're ready, and Back to look again. You set the pace, and at any stop you can still drag the view to look around.
As you go, the side panel opens the notes for each stop, so the tour and the reading stay together.
4:456. Scripture and “How sure?”
In Holy Week, each place prints the passage that happened there in full. The parallels in the other Gospels are listed below it; click one and its text opens too. The English is the King James Version, and the Chinese is the 1919 Union Version.
Press How sure, and the page takes you to the evidence. Every detail has one of five labels: textually stated, strongly supported, plausible, speculative, or artistic, which means it's simply a choice we made to draw it.
Where careful readers disagree, the views are set side by side, with who holds each one and the reasons for and against. We don't pick a winner; you can weigh them yourself.
5:337. Walking inside
Several labs let you walk in on foot. In the Tabernacle, Enter as a priest lowers you to eye level and walks you through the courtyard to the door of the tent.
To walk by yourself, press Take control. Use W, A, S and D, or the arrow keys, to walk, and drag to look around.
When you're done, press Escape, or the same button again, and you're back outside with the whole scene in view.
6:098. Each lab's own controls
Every lab has a few controls of its own. Holy Week runs along a line of days, from Palm Sunday to Easter morning. Pick a day, then one of the places on it.
The Exodus switches between a 3D scene and a route map. Both follow the same stops, so you can see where each moment happened, from the Passover night to the crossing of the sea.
Jerusalem Through the Ages keeps one view of the city and moves it through time: David, Solomon, Hezekiah, the return from exile, Herod, Holy Week, and today.
Noah's Ark has a story strip: the building, the animals, the door shut, the flood, the landing, the raven and the dove, and the rainbow.
Temples Side by Side sets five sanctuaries at one scale, from the Tabernacle to Ezekiel's vision. Put them side by side, or lay one over another.
In the Priests' Garments, Dress the priest puts the high priest's garments on one at a time, in the order Leviticus 8 gives. Take apart lays them out side by side.
7:319. Maps, timelines and graphs
Not every lab is 3D. Bible Maps, in the menu at the top, gathers the map labs by story: the life of Jesus, the early church, and the Old Testament. Paul's Roads puts Paul's travels on one map. Pick a journey and press play: the map and the timeline of his life move together through Acts.
The Bible Time Map lays the whole story along one line, with the kings, prophets and empires. Pick an era, zoom in, and click anything to find it on the map.
The Knowledge Graph starts from a name, Moses here, and shows how it connects: the people, places and verses around him, and the labs where you can see them.
Places of Jesus maps the towns of the Gospels. Pick one to read what happened there; five of them also open in 3D.
8:3210. Teaching with the labs
Teaching a class or leading a group? Press Teach this. The lab becomes a slideshow for the projector, with big text and nothing else from the website.
It follows the same tour. The right arrow or Page Down moves to the next stop, and an ordinary presentation clicker works too.
Press V to put the key verse for the stop on the screen, large enough for everyone to read together. Press V again to put it away.
B blanks the screen while you talk, and pressing it again brings the picture back. S opens presenter notes in a second window. Question mark lists every key, and Escape leaves teach mode.
Back on the lab page, the class box has the same teach mode, a handout to print, and a short video to download in case there's no internet. It's all free to print and project.
9:3311. Pictures, Lite 3D and full screen
The camera button saves what you see as a picture, for slides or a handout. Choose landscape or portrait, and whether to add the lab's name and a caption.
If the picture stutters, turn on Lite 3D. It draws fewer shadows and details so an older computer can keep up, and everything you can see and read stays the same.
Full screen gives the scene the whole screen, which helps on a projector. Escape brings the page back.
10:0812. On a phone
On a phone the labs work a little differently. The page shows a picture of the scene first. Open in 3D fills the screen with it, or you can walk straight in.
Drag with one finger to turn the view, pinch with two to zoom, and tap a part to read about it.
The tabs along the bottom take the place of the toolbar and the side panel. Each one opens a sheet: drag it up to see more, or down to close it.
The tour works the same way: start it, then press Next. Details opens the notes for the stop.
The three dots hold the evidence levels, How sure and Share. The cross at the top left takes you back to the page.
11:0113. The text version and slow computers
Every 3D lab has a text version: the same tour as a page to read, with a picture and the scripture for each stop. It works on any device, and it's handy for preparing a lesson.
If a computer struggles, the lab lowers the quality by itself and says so at the top of the scene. The content doesn't change, and you can still ask for the best quality.
And if a computer can't show 3D at all, the lab says so and offers the text version and the short video instead, with a link to help.
The help page explains, browser by browser, how to turn on hardware acceleration, which is usually all that's wrong. There is a section for school and church computers too.
11:5414. Help and languages
In any 3D lab, the question-mark button walks you through the controls one at a time. Use it whenever you forget where something is.
The labs are in English, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese. Switch with the language menu at the top of any page; the Chinese pages use the 1919 Chinese Union Version.
That's the tour. Next time you read one of these passages, open its lab beside it. And if you find a mistake, every lab page has a link at the bottom to tell us.