Cool Archaeology interpretation at this months Philadelphia Archaeological Forum Meeting -- history via the Oculous Rift!: At This month’s PAF meeting ( 6pm, Thurs. July 10th, at The URBN Center of Drexel University, 3501 Market Street, Philadelphia) there will be a presentation of the Oculous Rift® technology being used to produce an enhanced historical interpretation of the James Dexter archaeological site. PAF meetings are open to all and all are welcome. Based on a ‘next generation’ virtual reality head-mounted display, the OR technology transforms virtual historical site interpretations into an “interactive, immersion experience”. (The Oculus Rift was recently purchased by Facebook for 2 billion dollars and will be commercially available sometime this fall.) Those attending the PAF meeting will have an opportunity to try out the virtual reality headset technology for themselves and ‘step inside’ the virtual model that is being created for the James Dexter house. This house model forms a virtual platform for interpreting the life of James Oronoko Dexter, a free Black coachman living in Philadelphia during the 1790s. The house site, in Independence National Historical Park, was excavated in 2003 (see nps.gov/inde/historyculture/james-dexter-site.htm). The virtual model of the James Dexter house is based on archaeological evidence and historical records and is being constructed, under the direction of Dr. Glen Muschio, by graduate students and undergraduate students from Drexel University’s Antoinette Westphal School of Media Arts and Design (Department of Cinema and Television, programs in Interactive Digital Media and Digital Media) working with cultural resource managers from Independence National Historical Park. During Thursdays meeting, Chester Cunanan, a recent graduate of the Digital Media MS Program at Drexel University, will be demonstrating the current version of the 3D Dexter House model. The model will be deployed via the Oculus Rift (virtual reality) headset which will enable a wearer to virtually walk around the (3D model of the) Dexter house and into the first floor interior of the house. This presentation helps demonstrate the promise of a collaborative research and outreach initiative focusing on African American heritage tourism in the Philadelphia region that is under preliminary development by researchers at Drexel, INHP, and Cheyney University. The project’s aim is not merely to enhance the traditional practice of telling history stories using new technologies but to investigate the use of new technologies in ‘making’ new history interpretations that can challenge accepted African American history tropes. Cheyney student involvement in the initial stages of the interactive virtual media design will help to enhance and embrace the role of racial and ethnic minorities in local tourism development while public-produced history stories--created by drawing upon new INHP archaeological information while inside the interactive virtual world– open up an opportunity for creating new heritage narratives that can address and redress racial issues in the past and the present. This project is being developed by Dr. Glen Muschio of Drexel University. (Image: Dr. Glen Muschio watches Cheyney University student Ruqaiyah Lash virtually tour the James Dexter house model using the Oculous headset.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 06:13:56 +0000
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