18th Century History Comes Alive Through VR
Shenandoah students, professors and the Shenandoah Center for immersive Learning (SCiL) are creating a virtual reality project that will transport participants back in time to the Constitutional Convention in 1787 and the debates that took place there among the Founding Fathers of the United States.
The debates at the Constitutional Convention, held in Independence Hall in Philadelphia, enabled the U.S. to transition from the Articles of Confederation to the United States Constitution. Delegates discussed how America should be governed, and among their discussions were debates over the creation of the Electoral College.
There are three students involved in the project:
- Logan Hagstrom ’21, English major
- Alistair Bingham ’21, Virtual Reality Design major
- Kim Oliveto ’21, History major
Through the project, these students will construct a virtual Independence Hall. They will also create animated avatars reflecting the appearance, dress, body language, and speech of individual delegates of the time. To achieve this feat, students will use data obtained from visits to Independence Hall and the National Constitution Center, along with photography, 3D scanning technology, and 3D modeling techniques and simulation platforms.
The goal of the project is to use virtual reality to help history come alive. Faculty are hopeful the project will be used in college and high school classrooms and perhaps as part of an educational exhibit for the National Park System.
Through immersive technology, history is no longer something abstract, to be imagined and pictured. Immersive history will be lived and experienced; I’ve watched it happen. This is how you get students to fall in love with history.”
J.J. Ruscella, M.F.A., AccessVR EVP and Chief Immersive Officer
Professors are also hopeful the experience will inspire active citizenship and renewed civil discourse among students.
Debate is so often viewed as an adversarial activity; we forget that it can be our greatest tool for collaboration. This innovative VR project allows participation in history and reminds us that although our self interests may be vastly different, it is always in our collective interest, as a nation and as a planet, to find common ground through the protection and promotion of civil debate.”
Matt Corr, Ph.D., assistant professor of media and communication and a debate coach
The VR Experience: How It Works
Students are currently working on the first part of the project—creating a virtual Independence Hall and avatars—and will finish it over the course of a year. When the project is complete, participants will be able to don VR goggles and engage in a real-time participatory debate over the Electoral College.
This happens in five stages.
In the first stage, avatars—played by students and actors who represent key delegates at the convention—will present a dramatic reading of the text of the debate on electing the president. Participants can watch through VR to learn more about the discourse at the convention and the principles that led delegates to develop and adopt the Electoral College.
Each participant then has a 10-to-15-minute VR session with the avatar of his or her delegate of choice. The delegate introduces himself and provides information about his personal background, political principles and positions in the debates of the convention. Participants will then read the text of the debate to emulate its style and gain greater familiarity with its substance.
Following this is an improvised performance, where participants articulate the original arguments of the delegates. Lastly, there is a free performance. Maintaining the tenor, temper and objectives of the original debate, participants engage in an open debate about the Electoral College and respond freely to one another.
The debate texts are taken directly from James Madison’s notes for the convention. However, recreated personal monologues between specific delegates and participants can touch upon slavery, popular violence, the Scottish Enlightenment, early American political culture, concepts of virtue, political corruption, natural rights and more.
Learning from the past requires empathy for the people of the past. Immersive technology provides the means and the medium to see and experience the world from their point of view. It’s a very powerful tool for studying history.”
Professor of History Warren Hofstra, Ph.D.
VR DESIGN AT SHENANDOAH
Virtual Reality Design Undergraduate Majors
The BA in Virtual Reality Design will prepare students for careers producing high quality immersive content for emerging AR/VR and related disciplines.
The BS in Virtual Reality Design will prepare students for careers working as technical specialists and/or programmers in AR/VR or related fields.
Virtual Reality Design Undergraduate Certificate
21-24 Credits
The undergraduate certificate is designed for students who are majoring in another field and/or who have already graduated with another degree and are seeking an additional credential. This certificate will give students a broad foundation in AR/VR tools, systems and methods. Students will gain practical experience working on real projects.
Declaring A Minor
Shenandoah students work with their Academic Advisor to declare a minor. Academic Advisors will continue to work with students to ensure that they fulfill all of the requirements to complete the minor.
Incoming students should not indicate their intended minor on their Shenandoah application. Applications are for intended majors only.
Start building a creative and technologically fulfilling career in a field whose market size is expected to be $209 billion by 2022, according to Statista.
The starting salary of most graduates in VR is between $75,000 and $80,000, with the top end around $200,000, according to Business News Daily. Google, Facebook, Snap (Snapchat), NVIDIA and HTC are major employers of students with virtual reality degrees or experience.
- Game programming
- Architecture, engineering and construction (using VR for 3D design)
- Simulation training scenarios for doctors and first aid responders
- Safety training for military/law enforcement
- Travel industry (advertising tourist locations and experiences to consumers)
- Education (crafting experiences to explore remote places, uninhabitable environments, or past events)
- Writing (AR/VR content featuring stories, emotion and dialogue)
- Marketing materials to promote business products and services
The Career Services Office provides a comprehensive range of services and resources to assist Shenandoah students in their career search. Services offered include resume and cover letter building, mock interviews, and professional dining etiquette workshops.
You’ll benefit from the university’s partnership with Immersive VR Education, which offers educators the tools they need to create content in virtual classrooms or training environments, using its Engage platform. Shenandoah is collaborating with the firm to build VR experiences and scenes through Engage that are specifically created for the university.
Coursework includes programming in Unity and other languages, VR software design, and digital image processing mathematics.
Shenandoah, which currently offers a virtual reality program and lab, is bringing the human element to AR/VR through narrative and emotionally grounded storytelling that utilizes 360-degree video and AR/VR technology. Our program incorporates a variety of disciplines, with actors from Shenandoah Conservatory often serving as role players in VR 360-degree videos produced by the Shenandoah Center for Immersive Learning (SCiL).
SCiL has recreated a 1960s Civil Rights Era lunch counter sit-in and the trial of pre-Civil War abolitionist John Brown using 360-degree VR video, and in collaboration with not only acting students, but also the university’s history department and outside organizations.
Using interior scans of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, Shenandoah history students and debate team members soon will become avatars of the Founding Fathers and debate on a virtual stage within a recreation of the 1787 Constitutional Convention.
360 Video Learning at Shenandoah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_-thq7oJmE
The Shenandoah Center for Immersive Learning (SCiL) is part of the vanguard of storytelling and learning in the 360 video and virtual and augmented reality realms. SCiL productions are helmed by students and draw upon a role player workforce that includes Shenandoah Conservatory acting students. Through SCiL’s efforts, students build a variety of valuable new skills, while telling stories in ways that make an immediate impact on a viewer. Take a look inside, and see the beginning of something extraordinary.
Imagine participating in interesting conversations led by engaging professors who’ve already done what you dream of doing. You’ll be in a small class with professors who know your name, care about your success and provide advice as you pursue your academic and career goals.