Bringing history to life through virtual reality

Ken Thompson, assistant professor-in-residence of game design at the University of Connecticut, takes 3D scans of Courtroom 600 in the Justizpalast in Nuremberg, Germany, as a bystander looks on.

STORRS — Bringing to light the University of Connecticut’s roots to the famous Nuremberg trials after World War II, researchers are creating a new way to immerse oneself in history. Through the technology of virtual reality, researchers are currently developing a game designed to experience the Nuremberg trials in a way that hasn’t yet been done before.

Held in late 1945, the Nuremberg trials in Germany are known for the prosecution of a number of prominent leaders of Nazi Germany for committing war crimes during the Holocaust.

One of the members of the executive trial council, Thomas Dodd, was a U.S. senator and representative whose documents when serving as a federal prosecutor are archived at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center on the Storrs campus.

The “Courtroom 600 Project” — named after the courtroom in the Justizpalast in Nuremberg where the trials took place — received a push forward when the National Endowment for the Humanities awarded a $25,000 Digital Projects for the Public grant.

UConn assistant professor-in-residence of game design Kenneth Thompson has worked as a game developer and was previously involved with the video game “Captain America: Super Soldier,” which was released on multiple video game platforms in 2011.

He recently turned his attention to creating games that addressed more serious topics. 

“I made some progress in areas that I found were lacking in the video game industry,” Thompson said. “In my position, I felt I could help with that and make an experience that’s helpful and lets us experience some of the court proceedings.”

Along with a cross-collaborative group of developers and faculty from UConn, Thompson began development on the project through the process of photogrammetry at the actual Courtroom 600 in Germany.

The process consists of taking a series of photos at the same angle, which are then run through a program to create 3D models.

Additionally, archives of documents and trial papers at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center have been digitized for use in the project.

“If all of that groundwork hadn’t been laid, this would’ve been a lot more difficult,” Thompson said. 

Other members of the research and advisory team include experts in educational psychology, human rights, digital public humanities, international law and Holocaust history, according to Jessica McBride, manager of research communications for the UConn Office of the Vice President for Research.

3D models are still currently being processed, Thompson said, and the next step before a potential testing phase this summer is figuring out the appropriate way to approach the visuals for the interactive project.

“We’re investigating visual styles and what’s appropriate for the medium,” Thompson said.

If more production funding can be secured later this year, the testing phase can commence after the project is fully developed and a potential release in 2020 can be coordinated, whether it’s for the public or through any public museums.

“We’re very excited and honored to have been given the grant,” Thompson said. “Now is when the real work starts.”

Originally published in The Chronicle on January 24, 2019.