English 281 elevator pitch (1)
“Reliving History” is an interactive experience where users are immersed in a simulation of history. Users will see actors reenacting historical events or a hypothetical historical events. Users will be able to experience this in the first person point of view. Users will have the ability to answer questions asked by actors by selecting responses with haptic controls.
The goal of “Reliving History” is to get users engaged in historical events and connect with past, or even present, groups of people they would otherwise not understand. It is intended to improve user’s knowledge of historical events by immersing them directly into the historical scene. It promotes empathy in users because they are able to experience how people lived and were treated. Users will evaluate what they’ve learned by taking a short quiz before they exit that reviews the scenario they’ve been through.
The HTC Live VR headset will allow users to experience firsthand what it was like to live in a certain time period as a certain demographic, social caste or role. It will totally immerse users into the scene. They will be able to hear the voices of the actors in the scene, see a full 360 degrees around them, walk in a confined space, and even select and touch objects with haptic controls.
“Reliving History” targets museums as the consumers (the ones who would actually purchase the product) and museum goers as a secondary audience because they would be the ones experiencing it. We could possibly first release a demo set containing short clips of a few historical events and continue by releasing new time periods, roles, and demographics.
Only VR tech that already exists would be used (HTC Live). We would work with museum’s budget so they can get exactly what they want. They could possibly have the new VR technology be part of a grand opening and charge an entry fee for opening night and have people try the technology. More people may come to the museum to try it. Challenges may arise as this simulation cannot reproduce history perfectly (Allison), but we should only go so far in depth with the simulation as we know we can still be accurate.