King Tut and the Exploreum Experience

Rezzable has just opened its preview of its King Tut virtual exhibition.  This exhibition is not only about King Tut, but also a demonstration of Rezzable research into the best use of  virtual world technology.  As usual with virtual worlds, you really have to be there.  But I will give a picture tour here, by way of showing people why they might want to be there.

 You arrive by teleport at a landing pad high above a map of the area.  The pad offers an overview of the area and several docent signs with background information in spoken narration.   You also get a notecard with these credits:  

Sandro Vannini -- principal photography of King Tut artefacts

Lightwaves -- the ultimate prim-master and our hero

Rezzable build team:

•  Alejandro Rosenthal
•  Beatrix Newt
•  Foolish Frost
•  Littletoe Bartlet
•  My Mackenzie
•  Pavig Lok

The balloon at right is probably not ready for use in this preview, but may later serve as a means of transport to the locations of interest.  At this time, all transportation is by teleport. 

The Dig and the Tomb

The teleport from the landing pad takes you to the excavation site and the tomb.  As I look around the site, I think about old computer games like Myst.  Imaginary worlds, those. But we learned about them because they were part of the game.  

We learned about those imaginary worlds by exploring them.  We picked up clues by clicking on things.  As I prowled around the excavation site, I kept waniting to click on things.  Pieces of paper left out on the tables.  Boxes that might have things in them.  Strange objects that might have a story to tell.

I suspect that after we get past the preview stage, some of those things  -- at the excavation site, in the tomb, and in the gallery --  will have a story to tell.  And you will learn the story by exploring.  Of course, in Second Life, there could be many stories told.  About the discovery of the tomb, about the detective work that built our current view of the KingTut's life and death, about the burial practices of the time, about daily life in that civilization.  Second Life could hold them all.

Wall paintings

When you explore the tomb, you soon find your way to the wall paintings that depict aspects of the king's journey to immortality in the afterlife.  That room is shown on the right.  (The white bubble things are things to click on to hear the audio-docent speech). 

The tomb is small enough that I can imagine a museum curator being willing to spend the money to have a mock-up built as part of a King Tut display.  A museum's version of virtual reality.  More solid. 

And more expensive.  In Second Life a museum curator afford to have several mock-ups like that built and user tested.  And still have enough in the budget to pay for a final version in plywood and paint.  (By the way, would you call that plywood version "reality"?)

Gallery special Pieces  -  Shrines and recovered artifacts

This gallery is designed much like a museum.  There are two other exhibits, Cosmic Gallery and Armarna.  Aramana is a partly completed model of an Egyptian town.  Something, perehaps, to point at future directions for the Egypt branch of Rezzables.  

Since the "real"  King Tut exhibit has been travelling the US, I did a little web research on that.    

Tutankhamun and The Golden Age of The Pharaohs

The exhibit is in Dallas right now.  Since I live in Fort Worth, I could have driven over there. Only take me about an hour and a half to get there, find parking, and walk to the Dallas Museum of Art.  Figure in a schedule to avoid rush hours in Fort Worth and Dallas.  Eat fast and I could probably have four hours there. 

Ticket price is only $7. US. Not bad until I add in the cost of the 80 mile roundtrip.  

This Rezzables museum I can visit in 30 seconds. At no cost. I have visited it several times In the course of writing this article. And I can visit the museum with my friends--who may have other suggestions about the display and how to use it effectively for a learning experience.   Imagine how this virtual museum would help a group of museum curators at a seminar on best practices in museum builds.  Or a group of students teamed in a workshop, competing to design the best Tut exhibit.

I think this is already a good use of virtual world technology.  Best?  Probably not.  Probalbly will be made better next year.  Another kind of exploring, right here in River City.  Exploring the possibilities.  No telling what you find that way.  But it won't be dead.