1. Making the Invisible Visible: Illuminating the Hidden Histories of the World War I Tunnels at Vauquois Through a Hybridized Virtual Reality Exhibition
- Author
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Run Yu, Todd Ogle, Zach Duer, Thomas Tucker, Scott Fralin, and David G. Hicks
- Subjects
Redirected walking ,Computer science ,Optical head-mounted display ,020207 software engineering ,02 engineering and technology ,Informal learning ,Virtual reality ,computer.software_genre ,Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design ,Visual arts ,Exhibition ,Virtual machine ,0202 electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering ,Immersion (virtual reality) ,Narrative ,computer ,Software ,Haptic technology - Abstract
Visualizing History: Tunnels of Vauquois is an educational immersive virtual reality (VR) exhibit that makes the invisible history of World War I soldiers' experiences in the tunnels of Vauquois, France, visible to contemporary audiences. The exhibit presents the visitor with both discrete knowledge and the opportunity for emotional awareness. The virtual environment is recreated from scanned data of the original site. Visitors traverse the tunnel through the use of a head-mounted display, redirected walking, passive haptics, aligned physical and virtual environments, interactive tracked props, and narration. In this article, we describe the motivation and rationale for creating an immersive exhibit for informal learning environments, such as museums, libraries, and school VR laboratories. We also describe how the current exhibit functions and our iterative design process informed by observational feedback from pilot testing.
- Published
- 2020
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