In May 2023, Americans of all backgrounds discover, explore, and celebrate the vibrant and varied American Jewish experience from the dawn of our nation to the present day. On April 20, 2006, President George W. Bush proclaimed that May would be Jewish American Heritage Month. During May the VLC highlights our Virtual Language program, Language Lab VR, on the HTC Vive which helps users learn a bit of the Hebrew language, and, Anne Frank House VR, which gives users a tour of the secret annex in which the Frank family hid during world war II form the Najis during the Holocaust time period.
The outside links share a few of the developments of other institutions like, a presence in the Decentraland Metaverse, Jewish history in a VR experience hosted by the Illinois Holocaust Museum plus educational use of VR to educate Jewish school children in Judaism.
Komez Alef O is 18 minutes of narrative story available through the VLC using Viveport and the HTC Vive. "The Holocaust survivor Victor I. takes the viewer on a deeply personal VR journey through his memories of the Second World War: The trauma of the Holocaust, the trauma of war and the trauma of being forcefully uprooted from home. His story, told in his own voice, is the one of despair and hope during the most terrifying time in modern history. The experience is guided by audio recordings of Victor’s testimonies and supported by stylized visualizations of his memories that are both re-created through his recollections and reimagined through his daughter who grew up with and inherited his memories."- Description from Viveport
Hebrew, a Semitic language used by the Jewish people, is taught in this PC VR application. Language Lab re-approached the language acquisition process. The created lessons mimic the same learning process that humans have all used while learning first language as children. This means the first thing you do is listen and watch what you are being told. Then you experiment with the objects in the lesson and try to figure out what you are being told to do.
Available on the Meta Quest 2 and Oculus GO VR devices, Anne Frank House VR offers a unique and emotional insight into the two years that the Frank Family spent in hiding during world War II. . Experience the world-famous Secret Annex. Travel back to the years of the Second World War and wander through the rooms of the Annex that housed the group of 8 Jewish people as they hid from the Nazis. Immerse yourself in Anne’s thoughts as you traverse each faithfully recreated room. Find out what happened to the Annex’ brave inhabitants.
