First World War Poetry Archive Comes Alive in Virtual World

Saffia Widdershins sends us information about the launch of a new First World War Poetry Archive in Second Life. According to their info card: 

“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.

To check it out yourself, head to the Frideswide sim (click here to teleport.)

The complete notice follows after the jump...

An exciting new project in interactive education will launch on November 2nd 2009, 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 manuscrips, 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,” says Saffia Widdershins, a Second Life resident.  "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/ and take the tp to Theatre.

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

Comments

[valtrex online]

First world war poetry that show horrors of war?
i need some ww1 poetry that show the horrors of war
the horrors
being number of deaths
injuries / wounds and poor treatment
technological changes
conditions
frontline / battle
mental / physycological effects

dont have to contain all but must have most