A Giant Map You Cannot Touch: The Problematic Scale and Elusive Materiality of Digitized Ancient Maps in Virtual Reality
This essay examines the potential of virtual reality (VR) for interacting with digitized ancient maps. Recent critical evaluations of digital humanities projects suggest that VR offers an immersive experience for accessing digital archives. The question of the perceived scale of these documents, how...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Université de Bourgogne
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| Series: | Interfaces |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/interfaces/7358 |
| _version_ | 1797311311202222080 |
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| author | Julien Nègre |
| author_facet | Julien Nègre |
| author_sort | Julien Nègre |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This essay examines the potential of virtual reality (VR) for interacting with digitized ancient maps. Recent critical evaluations of digital humanities projects suggest that VR offers an immersive experience for accessing digital archives. The question of the perceived scale of these documents, however, becomes very problematic within a virtual environment. Due to the current high cost of haptic gloves, the materiality of digitized maps also remains largely inaccessible. The article describes a 2022 experiment conducted with students to study a 19th-century oceanic chart related to Moby-Dick, using VR. This case study allows us to think more clearly about the implications of VR in terms of scale, and to imagine future developments. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T01:56:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-561d53da77c44e21a6fae0aae10f0475 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2647-6754 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T01:56:46Z |
| publisher | Université de Bourgogne |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Interfaces |
| spelling | doaj.art-561d53da77c44e21a6fae0aae10f04752024-02-14T08:36:37ZengUniversité de BourgogneInterfaces2647-67545010.4000/interfaces.7358A Giant Map You Cannot Touch: The Problematic Scale and Elusive Materiality of Digitized Ancient Maps in Virtual RealityJulien NègreThis essay examines the potential of virtual reality (VR) for interacting with digitized ancient maps. Recent critical evaluations of digital humanities projects suggest that VR offers an immersive experience for accessing digital archives. The question of the perceived scale of these documents, however, becomes very problematic within a virtual environment. Due to the current high cost of haptic gloves, the materiality of digitized maps also remains largely inaccessible. The article describes a 2022 experiment conducted with students to study a 19th-century oceanic chart related to Moby-Dick, using VR. This case study allows us to think more clearly about the implications of VR in terms of scale, and to imagine future developments.https://journals.openedition.org/interfaces/7358digital humanitiesscaleliteraturevirtual realitymapsmateriality |
| spellingShingle | Julien Nègre A Giant Map You Cannot Touch: The Problematic Scale and Elusive Materiality of Digitized Ancient Maps in Virtual Reality Interfaces digital humanities scale literature virtual reality maps materiality |
| title | A Giant Map You Cannot Touch: The Problematic Scale and Elusive Materiality of Digitized Ancient Maps in Virtual Reality |
| title_full | A Giant Map You Cannot Touch: The Problematic Scale and Elusive Materiality of Digitized Ancient Maps in Virtual Reality |
| title_fullStr | A Giant Map You Cannot Touch: The Problematic Scale and Elusive Materiality of Digitized Ancient Maps in Virtual Reality |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Giant Map You Cannot Touch: The Problematic Scale and Elusive Materiality of Digitized Ancient Maps in Virtual Reality |
| title_short | A Giant Map You Cannot Touch: The Problematic Scale and Elusive Materiality of Digitized Ancient Maps in Virtual Reality |
| title_sort | giant map you cannot touch the problematic scale and elusive materiality of digitized ancient maps in virtual reality |
| topic | digital humanities scale literature virtual reality maps materiality |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/interfaces/7358 |
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