“The Immersive Archive” presented by Abes, Fairchild, Wahba, Xiao, Lin, et al. …

Virtual and Augmented Reality (XR) are rapidly expanding mediums, but few realize that they have a very long history of development emerging out of early prototypes by research labs, artists, and inventors. These early decades of XR development have not yet been comprehensively archived and exhibited. In some instances, it is possible to access research papers and other documentation about these projects which can give a general sense of their functions. But what if we could actually visit those early labs virtually, learn more about these pioneering efforts, and experience what these prototypes were really like? This project is focused on developing prototypes for an Immersive Archive that restores and exhibits seminal XR devices and visions from immersive media history. Similar in concept and function to a Film Archive or Internet Archive that collect, restore, and conserve a wide range of media, the objective here is to provide users an interactive, first person, immersive experience of the VR and AR mediums throughout their evolution, with links to a rich context of historical background and archival materials for deeper exploration.