The Creative Research Time in the Computing Department at Saint Martin’s Institute of Higher Education (SMI) has worked closely with heritage experts and teachers to develop an educational Immersive Virtual Reality (VR) Experience.
The SMI research team has already proven itself by developing a faithful virtual representation of the tangible cultural heritage (physical site and artefacts) of an underground UNESCO heritage site: the Neolithic Hypogeum of Ħal Saflieni. This project, based on a LIDAR scan of the site during its restoration in the 2000s, was completed and launched just prior to the closure of museums due to the pandemic in 2020.
This year’s Re-Live History project sought to augment the experience with the portrayal of intangible cultural heritage, that is, the human behaviour in these sites, using artefacts found within them. Re-Live History used VR and motion capture (mocap) technology to introduce an animated character that meets the realism expectations raised by the site’s faithful representation.
The research team worked with mocap suits in order to create a realistic flow of movement portrayed by the avatar working at digging one of the walls of the hypogeum in line with the heritage experts’ direction and teachers’ suggestions. These were invited to participate in the design specification, development and evaluation of the results with the intention of fostering familiarity and interest in the experience to seek its adoption in teaching.
‘Re-Live History’ used VR and motion capture (mocap) technology
Results gained have illustrated encouraging feedback on the role of VR in the pedagogy of teaching of subjects, even outside history, such as digital literacy, graphics and digital art, sound digitisation and the underlying mathematics.
St Martin’s Institute believes that the success of Re-Live History is a great opportunity to develop an archive of such immersive experiences as teaching aids for present and future generations to learn about the cultural roots of our nation. This addresses learning outcomes in school curricula that focus on periods of time, about which little documentary evidence is available, such as prehistoric cultures.
The research project is financed through the Research Excellence Programme of the Malta Counsel for Science and Technology (MCST). A short film produced inside the VR experience and through 360-degree editing techniques, may be viewed here.
Re-Live History may be experienced at the PlayCon event at the MFCC, Ta’ Qali, taking place this weekend (Stand D7) or for teacher/student groups through an appointment set with SMI through e-mail infodesk@stmartins.edu.