Communications of the ACM
Project Underway to Preserve Holocaust Experience in Virtual Form
The Interact project seeks to preserve first-person accounts of the Holocaust of those who survived Nazi persecution.
Credit: Katie Blake/Bright White Ltd.
University of Huddersfield researchers are working on the Interact project, which aims to preserve the first-hand accounts of Nazi persecution survivors.
The project involves Holocaust survivors providing testimony and responding to questions from future generations.
The researchers developed technology called Embodied Conversational Agent (ECA), which projects a three-dimensional (3D) image of the speaker that can interact with the audience by responding to a wide variety of questions. The researchers conducted 3D high-definition stereoscopic video recording sessions with survivors, including their responses to hundreds of questions deemed most likely to be asked. The computer can instantly detect and analyze the spoken question, so the virtual survivor provides the appropriate response.
The technology, known as "mixed reality," ensures high levels of realism. "It means that in the future, when all the survivors have passed away, we can keep this experience and help future generations better understand the history," says University of Huddersfield professor Minhua Ma.
So far, six Holocaust survivors have taken part in week-long interview sessions, during which they begin by giving personal testimonies and then provide their responses to questions from a pre-determined list.
From University of Huddersfield
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