Vision Fountain were invited to introduce and user test a new virtual reality experince; “The Fossil Room” (beta) we are creating in collaboration with Rhondda Heritage Park . The experience was introduced at “The Festival of Archeology” yesterday 27.07.22.
The “Festival of Archeology” was a hands-on event, where the community were invited to Rhondda Heritage Park to experience and learn about archeology, paleontology and mining in Wales and the Rhondda. There were several experiences for the children and their parents to participate.
We provided the digital element and loaded a selection of fossils (below) into a virtual fossil room.
The fossil room is modelled on a 1920’s library. A selection of fossils, mostly that can be found in Wales, have been scanned in high resolution 3D, ready for handling in the virtual world. From 300 million year old coal to 11 million-year old petrified wood, Welsh trilobites, Ammonites – that can be found on the Glamorgan Heritage Coast and even a even a life sized (juvenille) dinosaur skull from the USA.
Each fossil was accompanied by descriptions provided in voice and on virtual screens within the VR experience.
We also had a “little” surprise for those who enetered the fossile room; a life size, (juvenille) Raptor, just like the one’s you see in Disney’s Jurrasic Park, albeit a friendlier version, paid a visit.
We had around 60 children, adults and pensioners trying out the “Fossil Room” experience and around half of the visitors complered UT (user testing) documentation.
Funding was provided by Welsh Government’s “Summer of Fun ” funding stream. With spacial thanks to the UK Geology Project for proving the fossils. – ends