In 1963, Martin Luther King marched to Washington to demonstrate against racial discrimination. Now this historic moment in the US civil rights movement is being recreated for VR.
"I have a dream" - this sentence was the highlight of Martin Luther King's historic speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on 28 August 1963. In it, he called for an end to racial discrimination in the United States. Only the more than 200,000 listeners who gathered in the US capital at the time know what it felt like to experience the civil rights activist. Pictures and videos only provide an incomplete impression of the "March on Washington".
The VR experience entitled "The March" is set to change this. The work, which was launched three years ago, will consist of three acts. The first will show the march on Washington. The second act takes place in the national park known as the "National Mall", which served as a meeting place for the masses. Finally, in the third act, Martin Luther King will be seen speaking.
This is the first digital reconstruction of King's speech. The virtual experience should feel as if viewers were actually watching the speech of the future Nobel Peace Prize winner live in 1963. The developers are using photogrammetry, motion capturing and 3D animation to recreate the events as authentically as possible. The VR experience will be interactive and offer freedom of movement.
VR a powerful medium for history
The VR experience was created by TIME in collaboration with "the civil rights leader's estate". Alton Glass, the person behind "The March" with Mia Tramz, emphasises that one of the goals was clearly the first-hand experience of the historical event: "When you experience history instead of just reading about it, it becomes much more powerful."
"The March" celebrated its premiere last Friday, 28 February 2020 at the DuSable Museum of African American History in Chicago. Other similar VR projects are currently in the works that aim to bring historical events to life.
Source: wuv/ Mixed / time
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