Immersive experience as a platform to convey changes across the region
​Project Lead: Tom Raimondo (University of South Australia)
Project Teams: Jack Fraser, Andrew Cunningham, James Walsh (University of South Australia)
Project overview
Immersive experiences describe the perception of being surrounded by, and being a part of, a different environment than our normal day to day. An immersive experience aims to place the user in a captivating environment that stimulates the senses and deceives perception. The unique and dynamic nature of these experiences can help to tell rich and engaging stories, share new perspectives and change thinking, leading to new and innovative insights.
AR sandbox technology is a 3D, interactive and tactile tool that incorporates depth tracking technology to map contour lines (lines of equal elevation) onto the sand that adjust to the elevation levels of the sand in real-time. This technology can create immersive experiences that convey complex concepts about landscape evolution in an engaging and informative manner.
This immersive platform is a novel way to showcase the region and the research of the CLLMM Research Centre.
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This project involves the creation of an immersive science platform to be used by the Research Centre. It involves the design, development, and implementation of the platform by the Project LIVE (Learning through Immersive Virtual Environments) team at the University of South Australia. The immersive platform will incorporate novel and engaging Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technology. It facilitates engagement with community and First Nations throughout the CLLMM region, including history and values, how the region works from water and ecological perspectives, and future impacts of climate change.
Operation of the immersive experience by the Research Centre staff will support the knowledge generation of and engagement with the Research Centre.
This project will enable a way to connect with all stakeholders across the region.
Whilst this knowledge sharing and capacity building project will not directly inform management and policy, the immersive experience will provide a platform to share research outcomes and management with the community, First Nations and research-users.
First Nations culture and traditions are rooted within an ancient historical connection with country and countless generations of studying their local environment as a way of life. First Nations traditional ways of life, including land and water management, sustainable harvesting, and the conservation of local species can provide vital perspectives into the ways we manage the lands and waters into the future.
First Nations people and culture have historically been repressed during colonisation. Thus, their stories, knowledge and history have often gone untold or have not reached audiences in meaningful ways. The immersive experience holds the potential to convey First Nations stories and histories in a new visual format, and connect them to broader audiences, allowing people to comprehend and understand First Nations creation stories and history as they occur live in front of them.
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Additionally, the immersive experience will act as a way for First Nations people to visualise the climate changes that will occur across the region and how they may affect their cultural values (e.g. water inundation of cultural sites, and sand dune migration).
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By visualising these changes, First Nations people may better understand, then adapt to or mitigate these changes in the future.
Cultural significance
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