'Curious Conversations' podcast: Eiman Elgewely talks about using virtual reality to explore historical spaces
Eiman Elgewely joined Virginia Tech’s “Curious Conversations” to talk about her work using virtual reality and the principles of interior design to explore historical spaces. She described the research and collaboration required by such projects and explained how digital technology can help revive lost heritages, increase access, and provide insights for current applications. She described two recent projects - 3D virtual reality creations of the house of Sheikh Isa in Bahrain and Meketre's ancient Egyptian garden, the latter of which can be experienced in the Cube at the Moss Arts Center from May 5-7.
Takeaways
Interior design principles can be used to better understand social and cultural practices of people in the past.
Virtual reality can provide access to historically significant sites that are hard to physically reach for a variety of reasons including international relations, cost of travel, and danger.
Digital storytelling can convey new realities about historical spaces, including architecture practices that could provide insights for modern design.
About Elgewely
Elgewely is an assistant professor of Interior Design at the School of Design and a faculty affiliate of the Center of Human-Computer Interaction at Virginia Tech. Her research interests are in digital cultural heritage and museum studies, and she currently leads several projects in the Visualization and Virtual Reality Lab.
Learn more
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About the podcast
"Curious Conversations" is a series of free-flowing conversations with Virginia Tech researchers that take place at the intersection of world-class research and everyday life. Produced and hosted by Travis Williams, assistant director of marketing and communications for the Office of Research and Innovation, university researchers share their expertise and motivations as well as the practical applications of their work in a format that more closely resembles chats at a cookout than classroom lectures. New episodes are shared each Tuesday.