The Virtual Reality (VR) Witness Blanket Project

虚拟现实见证毯项目的目标不仅是创建对物理装置的真实模拟，而且以其他方式不可能的方式增强它及其元素，以促进意识、和解和治愈。由艺术家 Carey Newman 创作的“见证毯”由来自加拿大 77 个社区的 800 多件文物组成：每一件文物和“见证毯”作为一个整体，都是印度寄宿学校时代 (IRSE) 暴行的无声见证。除了参观位于温尼伯的加拿大人权博物馆 (CMHR) 之外，目前观看“证人毯”的途径还包括访问 Witnessblanket.ca 网站、下载 iOS 应用程序或参观由全尺寸打印件组成的旅行复制品之一。与这些替代方案不同，虚拟现实体验将忠实地复制证人毯的气势和情感影响，同时通过用户互动和基于凯里·纽曼的书《拾起碎片：寄宿学校记忆和证人毯的制作》主题的巧妙引导的叙述，为每一个沉默的证人提供发言权。在文化遗产，特别是有争议的遗产背景下使用虚拟现实，“能够通过吸引用户的注意力来扩展其影响用户的能力，这是多媒体 VR 系统的基本功能，旨在以更丰富、身临其境和有效的方式传递历史信息。” [Chong, H.T.、Lim, C.K.、Rafi, A. 等人。对文化遗产实践虚拟现实的全面系统评价：连贯的分类和动机。多媒体系统（2021）]。然而，要达到这种程度的参与度，需要对历史和文物、叙事和声音、声音和视觉、纹理和技术进行敏感的编织。作为“见证毯”的共同管理者，凯里·纽曼、卡莫森创新公司和加拿大人权博物馆致力于在数字分发平台上免费提供虚拟体验，最终目标是为加拿大各地偏远的原住民社区提供必要的硬件，将“见证毯”带回那些使之成为可能的社区，以便那些受影响最严重的人可以见证这座我们共同历史的强大纪念碑。

The objective of the Virtual Reality Witness Blanket Project is to create not only a true-to-life simulation of the physical installation, but to augment it and its elements in ways that would not otherwise be possible, to promote awareness, reconciliation, and healing. The Witness Blanket, created by artist Carey Newman, is comprised of more than 800 individual artifacts gathered from over seventy-seven communities across Canada: each artifact and the Witness Blanket as a whole stand as a silent witness to the atrocities of the Indian Residential School Era (IRSE). Beyond visiting the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) in Winnipeg, current avenues to view the Witness Blanket include visiting the witnessblanket.ca website, downloading the iOS app, or visiting one of the travelling replicas comprised of full-scale printouts. Unlike these alternatives, a virtual reality experience will faithfully replicate the imposing presence and emotional impact of the Witness Blanket, while also affording a voice to each of these silent witnesses by virtue of both user interaction and subtly guided narratives based on themes from Carey Newman's book "Picking up the Pieces: Residential School Memories and the Making of the Witness Blanket." Working with virtual reality in a context of cultural heritage, especially a contested heritage, "has the power to extend its capabilities of influencing users by capturing their attention, which are essential functionalities in multimedia VR systems designed for transferring historical information in a more enriched, immersive, and effective manner." [Chong, H.T., Lim, C.K., Rafi, A. et al. Comprehensive systematic review on virtual reality for cultural heritage practices: coherent taxonomy and motivations. Multimedia Systems (2021)]. Achieving that level of engagement, however, requires a sensitive braiding of history and artifact, narrative and sound, voice and vision, texture and technology. As co-stewards of the Witness Blanket, Carey Newman, Camosun Innovates, and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights seek to make the virtual experience freely available on digital distribution platforms with the ultimate goal of providing the necessary hardware to remote Indigenous communities throughout Canada, bringing the Witness Blanket back to the communities who made it possible, so that those most effected may bear witness to this powerful monument to our shared history.