Husker researchers are using virtual reality to recreate history

Did you ever have an old family house or maybe a historic site that no longer exists? A group of Husker researchers are bringing that kind of history back to life.

They are helping communities build virtual reality projects.

“Virtual reconstruction and virtual reality allows us to use information and then make a fully immersible 3D environment so people can have a better understanding of what was actually once there and is no longer preserved,” College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Matthew Douglass said.

The group of researchers first project was the CJ Webster house from Sulphur, Oklahoma. It existed in the late 1800s. All they needed was archaeological data such as information about the structure and location as well as some old photographs.

Douglass says working with the community has really helped them with the reconstructions.

“They give us images and they say this is my grandfather and he was in this community, we don’t know where he lived but here is a photograph and we can literally move around this 3D environment and find the exact perspective of the shot it was taken from,” Douglass said.

Douglass says the team did not have experience in virtual reality. They were able to train from online tutorials.

One of their goals in the future is to make learning modules that could be used in middle and high schools. They found that the technology part of the reconstruction would be very beneficial to the STEM field.

“We are looking to create educational opportunities for Nebraska students and really students all over and also adults that are interested to be able to do the same thing from their living room computer if they want,” Douglass said.

The reconstruction video tutorials are online and available for the public to tryout.

“You can use the mouse or arrow keys and move around and experience this place that’s no longer there,” Douglass said.

For the video tutorials showing how the research team put the reconstructions together, click here.