By Shelby Martin

Published: Sep. 27, 2024

Winchester, Va. (WHSV) -After five years of planning, a group of Shenandoah University faculty and students has unveiled a virtual reality experience called ‘the Great Experiment.’

The ‘Great Experiment’ takes users to Philadelphia in 1787, where the founders of a new nation are creating the Constitution. Through the virtual reality experience, users get to visit the room where it happened.

“We’re seeing history come alive,” J.J. Ruscella, one of the creators, said. “The ‘Great Experiment’ recreates the Constitutional debates in a virtual Independence Hall. It allows students to experience the founders as human beings.”

The simulation allows users to participate in the historical event firsthand, interacting and debating with the founding fathers.

“We know them as the founders; we put them on pedestals,” Warren R. Hofstra, a creator and history professor, said. “When you can be them in the debates of the Constitutional Convention, you get to know them pretty well.”

What started as a simple conversation between two professors became a five-year project. Historians, actors, scientists and over 100 students helped the ‘Great Experiment’ become a reality.

Developers even created a motion-capture studio to make the experience more realistic and immersive.

“For a few seconds, one forgets they’re sitting where they actually are, but maybe for a few seconds, believe they’re actually in 1787 Independence Hall,” Mohammad F. Obeid, creative director and producer of the ‘Great Experiment,’ said.

The ‘Great Experiment’s’ creators hope to use the VR experience to help classrooms adapt to the changing learning environment.

“This is a medium unlike reading from a book. It’s engaging; it’s interactive,” Obeid said. “The goal is not to replace that medium, and supplement our ways of teaching.”

Ultimately, the developers want students to become enthusiastic about learning history.

“We can unlock fun, interest and excitement in students.” Ruscella said. “I think that if we don’t do that as educators, we’re doing a disservice to our next generation of students.”

Copyright 2024 WHSV. All rights reserved.