by Upon reflecting on the games I’ve played in this module, as well as the VR/AR experiences I got to try out, I got to see firsthand how my career in digital history can look like when combining these elements together. As someone who wants to teach history by creating it in virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR), these games and experiences gave me insight as stepping stones for how I want to utilize video game technology into teaching history. As someone who has a degree in film and video game design, along with my history degree, the opportunities that the video game world can bring to history is something we as digital historians must utilize more in our fields. Games such as Assassin’s Creed, Crusader Kings, Ghost of Tsushima, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance are just some examples of history being utilized in video games to teach it while providing a fun outlet for people to play. When compared to VR/AR experiences, we can see some differences between it and the games we played for our module.
For example, the game “A Sailor’s Life for Me!” provides a click-based adventure that takes the player on a journey on the USS Constitution as a sailor in 1812. Created by the USS Constitution Museum Team, the aim of the game is to survive life on the sea, including doing chores, staying healthy, and completing main and side quests until the end of the game. The game provides an interactive experience by giving the player the ability to make decisions that can affect the life of their character, as if it was their own. As for the VR/AR experiences, each one provides an interactive tour or recreation of historical events, seeing firsthand the museums or places of historical interest that we can build using camera-based or game-based technologies.
Going off of what I experienced, each technology allows us to embody history by telling stories, recreating experiences, and building ancient cities and events through data we collect. I think each of these can be utilized properly when attempting to teach historical events or themes in this kind of work. For video games, I think they can do a better job telling stories and creating environments better than VR/AR experiences. For example, Assassin’s Creed does a good job of recreating Victorian England, Renaissance Italy, and the French Revolution, while having their main character experience the world around them and telling the game’s historical story. However, I think VR/AR can do a better job recreating historical events and time periods in real time than video games can. By this, I think VR/AR can be suited to recreate Ancient Greece or Rome by utilizing data and datasets digital historians collect by building NPCs that can speak their native languages, customs, and lifestyles for people to experience.
Despite these positives, there are some concerns that I do have. For one, historical biases are always something to be concerned about. With the power video games have on social and cultural influences, the history we as digital historians provide must be as accurate as possible if we’re going to utilize it properly. On top of that, there is always the concern of game or museum directors who may have different creative visions for the project. They may not want certain things in their game or VR/AR experience, such as certain historical topics or facts that may affect public perception on an historical issue. Lastly, certain projects in games and experiences may be more tasking than the technology can handle, so digital historians may be limited to what they can put in their game or experience.
To conclude, the kind of historical understanding I got from these activities mainly came from personal experiences and scenario-like understandings of history through the video games and VR/AR experiences the activity provided. I also argue the kind of historical understanding non-historian might gain from these activities would be also similar, but may differ in the knowledge and perspective they would gain from it. I do believe digital history can benefit from both VR/AR and video game technology in their field. It is the main reason I double majored in history and game design, because I truly believe that there is a lot to gain from these concepts. As long as we digital historians don’t compromise our values and utilize the technologies properly, the future of digital history is literally right on our fingertips.
