On 4 May, visitors of the Europatag festival in Düsseldorf will be able to walk around in the Belgian castle Jehay. How? Through virtual reality.
Terra Mosana documents and illustrates history and heritage from the Meuse region through digital presentations. At Europatag 2019 in Düsseldorf, visitors can put on Terra Mosana’s virtual reality glasses, and will be able to look around in the Belgian Renaissance castle Jehay.
What role will virtual reality play in cultural heritage? And why is it important that Terra Mosana develops this? Muriel Van Ruymbeke of project leader Université de Liège explains:
‘Virtual reality gives the user the illusion of moving in time and space. He or she can fly to examine the details of an 18th century ceiling, the walls of a castle or the sculptures in the façade of a church.’
But the meaning of virtual reality goes beyond this playful aspect: ‘Virtual reality allows professionals to obtain high-quality scientific data and enables curators to monitor heritage.’
Finally, virtual reality can contribute to the conservation of cultural heritage. ‘When a monument is hit by a disaster – like recently the Notre Dame – it can help preserve information about missing elements.
Terra Mosana started in 2018 and is currently developing story lines for future tours and has carried our laser scans to develop new presentations.
More information
Terra Mosana: www.terramosana.org
