The First World War Poetry Digital Archive in Second Life

An exciting new project in interactive education launches today, drawing together the resources and expertise of the University of Oxford, and the possibilities for immersion and interactivity offered by the virtual world environment of Second Life.

The First World War Poetry Digital Archive and the Learning Technologies Group at the University of Oxford have collaborated to bring together a wealth of digitised archival material from the First World War into an environment that allows this powerful material to be explored and experienced in a radically new way.

“The aim of the initiative is to place the poetry of the Great War in context, allowing the visitors to the exhibition to visualise archival materials in an environment that generates deeper understandings and to take advantage of the social and interactive aspects that the environment offers,” explains Stuart Lee, Lecturer of English at the University of Oxford.

The project has imported into the Second Life environment a range of digitised archival materials from the major poets of the First World War (poetry manuscripts, letters, diaries etc.) along with contextual primary source materials.  This have been positioned within an environment which has been modelled to simulate areas of the Western Front 1914 – 1918.  These materials have been supplemented with new interpretative content and a spectrum interactive tools and tutorials, streaming video and audio effects to create a vivid immersive experience that is, according to visitors, deeply moving.

I had, of course, read about the First World War, and seen archive news footage too.  But to have the feeling of walking along narrow trenches on duckboards half covered in mud, to see the dugouts, or to stand in a dressing station, hearing the voices of people who had been there describing their own experiences – this is all incredibly powerful.

There will be a Second Life Press Launch at 4.30am SLT (12.30pm UK time) and again at 2pm SLT on Monday 2nd November. Come to the landing point at:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Frideswide/219/199/646/.

The sim is now open for exploration from 2am Monday 2nd November 2009.  The organisers ask visitors to preserve the atmosphere of this environment by wearing the clothing provided at the landing area.