The Virtual Reality Oracle (VRO): An Immersive Experience of the Ancient Greek Oracle at Dodona

虚拟现实神谕 (VRO)：多多纳古希腊神谕的沉浸式体验

• 批准号: AH/T004673/1
• 负责人: Esther Eidinow
• 金额: $ 103.58万
• 依托单位: University of Bristol
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2020 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FT004673%2F1
• 关键词: Virtual; Reality; Oracle; VRO; Immersive

The aim of this project is to use VR to recreate an approximation of the historical experiences (mental and somatic) of individuals consulting the ancient oracle of Zeus at Dodona and then, through user analysis, to investigate how such a recreation can help to advance understanding of (i) an ancient historical context and individual historical experiences of that context; and (ii) the design and deployment of multi-sensory VR experiences for research and educational purposes. This will be achieved by building a VR recreation of the ancient Greek oracle of Zeus and Dione at Dodona (the VRO). The VRO will, on the one hand, address questions of subjective historical experience by creating a convincing reality that will then enable the detailed exploration of the process, experience and effects of ancient oracular consultation; and, on the other hand, facilitate further research into the design of VR technologies for communication of historical experience, including both museums and classroom settings. The VRO will recreate the experience of consulting the ancient Greek oracle of Zeus and Dione at Dodona in NW Greece during the Classical period. A broad constituency of ancient society visited this oracle: evidence shows that Dodona was consulted not only by community leaders, but also by ordinary men, women, and even slaves. This will enable the project to encompass a diverse range of ancient experiences. Moreover, the site has yielded thousands of lead tablets inscribed with questions that visitors posed to the oracle-remarkable documents for the ancient world. They show the everyday anxieties that prompted people to consult the gods, about, for example, travel, business and relationships. Alongside the question tablets, the ancient sources offer myriad possibilities for how the oracle worked, some focusing on Dodona's sacred oak tree, others on the priests and priestesses at the site. This project will explore--and aim to recreate--the diverse experiences of consulting Dodona, by commissioning and working with a VR company to develop a virtual reality oracle (VRO). Using the question tablets found at the site, and informed by specialists in ancient Greek religion and divination, with further support from the Ephorate of Ioannina (near ancient Dodona), the VRO experience will be built around a set of stories about ancient individuals. It will evoke different contexts and subjective experiences of uncertainty and explore the various possible methods of consulting the oracle, helping historians to better understand and differentiate among these mechanisms. The design phase of the VRO will also be informed by the participation of teachers, students and museum/cultural heritage curators, who will help to ensure that the VRO excels in communicating information to different user groups.In the second half of the project, the project will investigate user responses to the VRO both qualitatively and experimentally. This will enhance the project's ancient historical research into the experience of ancient oracular consultation: analysis of user responses by psychologists and neuroscientists will allow the project team to gauge the sensory and cognitive affects of oracular consultation, and to differentiate between different possible modes of divination. User analysis will also be used to examine how VR may be designed and deployed effectively for educational uses in classrooms and museums. Once the VRO is constructed, analysis of users of the VRO by psychologists and experts in human-computer interaction will be used to better understand the role of all the senses in a successful immersive experience, and to establish effective design parameters for immersive VR environments.

该项目的目的是利用 VR 来重现个人在多多纳咨询古代宙斯神谕的历史经历（心理和身体），然后通过用户分析来调查这种娱乐如何有助于增进理解(i) 古代历史背景和该背景的个人历史经历； (ii) 出于研究和教育目的设计和部署多感官 VR 体验。这将通过在多多纳（VRO）构建古希腊宙斯和狄俄涅神谕的 VR 娱乐来实现。一方面，VRO将通过创造令人信服的现实来解决主观历史经验的问题，从而使古代神谕咨询的过程、经验和效果得以详细探索；另一方面，促进对用于历史经验交流的 VR 技术设计的进一步研究，包括博物馆和教室环境。 VRO将重现古典时期在希腊西北部多多纳咨询古希腊宙斯和狄俄涅神谕的体验。古代社会的广大选民都曾拜谒过这个神谕：证据表明，不仅社区领袖，而且普通男人、女人，甚至奴隶也向多多纳咨询。这将使该项目能够涵盖各种古代体验。此外，该遗址还发现了数千块铅碑，上面刻有参观者对古代世界的甲骨文非凡文献提出的问题。它们展示了人们日常的焦虑，促使人们向神灵求助，例如关于旅行、生意和人际关系的问题。除了问题石板之外，古代资料还提供了关于神谕如何运作的无数可能性，其中一些集中在多多纳的神圣橡树上，另一些则集中在现场的祭司和女祭司身上。该项目将通过委托一家 VR 公司并与其合作开发虚拟现实预言机 (VRO)，探索并旨在重现咨询 Dodona 的多样化体验。使用现场发现的问题平板电脑，并由古希腊宗教和占卜专家提供信息，并得到约阿尼纳 Ephorate（靠近古多多纳）的进一步支持，VRO 体验将围绕一组有关古代个体的故事构建。它将唤起不同背景和不确定性的主观体验，并探索各种可能的咨询甲骨文的方法，帮助历史学家更好地理解和区分这些机制。 VRO 的设计阶段还将得到教师、学生和博物馆/文化遗产策展人的参与，他们将有助于确保 VRO 能够出色地向不同用户群体传达信息。项目将定性和实验性地调查用户对 VRO 的反应。这将加强该项目对古代神谕咨询体验的古代历史研究：心理学家和神经科学家对用户反应的分析将使项目团队能够衡量神谕咨询的感官和认知影响，并区分不同可能的占卜模式。用户分析还将用于研究如何有效地设计和部署 VR，以用于教室和博物馆的教育用途。一旦VRO建成，心理学家和人机交互专家对VRO用户的分析将用于更好地理解所有感官在成功的沉浸式体验中的作用，并为沉浸式VR环境建立有效的设计参数。

项目成果

The Ancient Greek Pharmakos Rituals A Study in Mistrust

古希腊法尔科斯仪式对不信任的研究

• DOI: 10.1163/15685276-12341662
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Numen
• 作者: Eidinow E

Cognitive Approaches to Ancient Religious Experience

古代宗教经验的认知方法

• DOI: 10.1017/9781009019927.006
• 发表时间: 2022
• 作者: Eidinow E

What was it like to consult the oracle at Dodona?

在多多纳咨询神谕是什么感觉？

• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Omnibus
• 作者: Bowden H

I-Thou-Nymph: a relational approach to ancient Greek religious devotion

我-你-宁芙：古希腊宗教信仰的关系方法

• DOI: 10.1080/0048721x.2022.2150401
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Religion
• 影响因子: 1
• 作者: Eidinow E

Paratextualizing Games - Investigations on the Paraphernalia and Peripheries of Play

副文本化游戏——对游戏用具和外围的调查

• DOI: 10.14361/9783839454213-005
• 发表时间: 2021
• 作者: Cole R