Student researchers Chantel班纳特 and Avery Rivera test the Oculus Meta Quest 2 and mobile virtual reality technology before the opening of the exhibition.
WYOMISSING,爸爸. 英国人一走，日本人就来了. Nicky saw them on bicycles, adorned with their flags… as they made their way to Taiping town... These Japanese soldiers set up a camp… and would raid homes looking for food, goods and women. 这第一批士兵被称为“自杀小队”，因为他们是前线军人. 他们很残忍.”
这是谢丽尔·尼古拉斯父亲的故事, 第二次世界大战期间，日本入侵马来西亚时，谁还是个孩子. 这样的故事启发了尼古拉斯, associate professor of communication arts and sciences and global studies at 宾州州立银行, 记录二战中马来西亚幸存者的真实故事.
今年春天, 尼古拉斯和海蒂·茅, 奥尔布赖特学院的教授, led a team of students on the creation of a virtual reality (VR)/digital exhibition 在太平的霹雳博物馆, 霹雳州, 马来西亚, 8月开业. 他向3000多名与会者(包括政府部长)发表了演讲. 展览将持续到10月10日. 22日-从9月开始延长. 30岁——并为观众提供了那个历史时刻的快照.
谢丽尔·尼古拉斯 (fourth from left) and Heidi Mau (second from left) were awarded at the opening reception. 虚拟现实/数字展览于8月8日开幕. 15, 在太平的霹雳博物馆, 霹雳州, 马来西亚的人群超过3人,000人参加, 包括政府部长.
“这次展览的灵感来自我的父亲和祖父, who told me about their experiences during the Japanese occupation when I was very young and did not quite appreciate them in the way I do today,尼古拉斯说。. “从2013年到现在，我对20多人进行了口述历史采访, 十年后, 这就是我的展览, and with only five of the WWII survivors [who participated in the oral histories still alive]. Importantly, these stories provide a historical context for ‘everyday living’ during that time. 这些都是普通人的故事，在历史书中没有分享, 主要在家庭内部分享. 随着讲故事的人的逝去，他们的故事也在逝去.”
研究小组的学生与博物馆工作人员合影:左起, Aaliss Osidele, Chantel班纳特, 金伯利尼古拉斯, Mr. 塞尔瓦和艾弗里·里维拉. 照片中没有:杰米·史密斯.
The team behind the exhibition included project leader Nicholas and concept and production associate Mau. 十大正规赌博平台大全沉浸式体验中心负责VR的构建和设计, 由帕特里克·杜达斯领导, research and development engineer; along with Alex Fatemi, 程序员和分析人员, 和巴特·马斯特斯, XR的首席程序员.
该小组还包括一个赌博平台大全的学生研究小组, 包括香黛尔·班尼特, 金伯利尼古拉斯, Aaliss Osidele, 艾弗里·里维拉和杰米·史密斯. 班纳特, Osidele, Rivera and Smith were all students enrolled in Nicholas’ "Intercultural Communication" course when they became interested in the project. 金伯利尼古拉斯 was invited to join the team because she is of 马来西亚n descent and could help with language translation during the students’ research.
Two student members of the team visited 马来西亚 during spring break of 2023 to take panoramic LiDAR360 images and collect historical data. 从那时起, the student team researched WWII 马来西亚n culture and history and helped write and select the stories featured in the exhibition booklet as well as the VR experience. Four students went to 马来西亚 in August to set up the exhibition and train museum staff to use the VR systems.
学生研究员Aaliss Osidele帮助一位博物馆客人使用Oculus Meta Quest 2.
“当我第一次了解这个项目时, 我非常兴奋,里维拉说, 来自雷丁大学全球研究专业的大四学生. “我真的很想更多地了解马来西亚的历史和文化, 尤其是因为我对这个国家知之甚少. 我也对穆斯林文化有了更多的了解. I hope one day I get to return to 马来西亚 and experience more of what I saw during this project.”
班纳特是华盛顿大学传播艺术与科学专业的大四学生.C., said this was an amazing opportunity to have a valuable learning in a country she didn’t know much about.
“When I was growing up, my mom would always tell me stories about my family tree," 班纳特 said. “当我问问题时，有时她不知道如何回答. There have been too many times in history when important stories have been lost or ignored and I wanted to be a part of a project that focused on preserving stories such as these.”
The exhibition focuses on the lived experiences of 马来西亚n survivors of various races and genders. The digital component utilizes mobile virtual reality and 360-point movement technologies navigable using Oculus Meta Quest 2. Museum guests use an Oculus system to participate in a virtual walkthrough of four spaces — a front yard, 客厅, 厨房和后院——以20世纪40年代为背景的马来西亚家庭, 在占领期间.
Museum guests use the Oculus system to participate in a virtual walkthrough of four inside a 马来西亚n home 在占领期间. Museum guests can move around the rooms and click on highlighted items which will open a short video of survivors’ stories.
客人还可以观看预先录制的360点房屋之旅. 房子的设计，就像它所承载的故事一样，是不同文化类别的融合. Some of the furniture and objects displayed in the house belong to the WWII survivors from this project. Museum guests can move around the rooms and click on highlighted items which will open a three to five minute video montage of WWII stories from the survivors. 访问ors can also view the VR world and the short video vignettes on a large monitor and two iPads set up as part of the exhibition.
尼古拉斯解释说，她开始收集口述历史, 想着她会把它们写进书里. 但当幸存者的家人开始询问这些故事时, Nicholas said she reconsidered her original idea as she wanted the exhibition to be more accessible to people in her hometown, 尤其是幸存的幸存者和幸存者的家属. 与她的伴侣兼配偶海蒂·茅(Heidi Mau)合作，虚拟展览的想法形成了. 尼古拉斯将虚拟展览和生活空间的概念归功于Mau.
Along with the VR exhibition, the team created a short booklet featuring the oral histories. 小册子亦提供有关活动及展览团队的背景资料.
“这次展览, using technology in this way is incredibly innovative and certainly unique for a 马来西亚n museum,尼古拉斯说。.
This project was made possible with funding from the Penn State Student Engagement Network Travel Grants; Institute for Computational and Data Sciences Seed Grant; 校友 Fellow Award; and the Mrs. 哈罗德McI. 格劳特和太太. C. 格伦·考夫曼艺术基金会.
For more information on the ‘马来西亚n WWII Oral Histories: A Digital Experience’ exhibition, 联系尼古拉斯: (电子邮件保护).
