Game-based virtual archaeology field school
sciencedaily.com
sciencedaily.com
You had to pick where to dig test pits and how deep to dig in order to find artifacts. If you found nothing, you had to decide to either dig deeper or open a new test pit. A great lesson in how to do sampling.
Their first one was more of an adventure with kayaking and ice climbing on an expedition, the second was guided sightseeing with informational voiceover conversation while you take the requested pictures for a magazine article.
Getting hands on and seeing what archeologists actually do on a site would be a great educational experience, but maybe not one that the average person would have the patience for?
We know we don't learn from computer games. (Some very very few exceptions)
We know VR is just not good enough.
As developers or people who plan and pay for projects we know the money to develop this properly is prohibitively expensive and has not been spent. I'd guess $1 million to do it in a manner that works? More?
This is not like the dream of going to Mars where the shared delusion allows us to get GPS and Satellite internet and weather predictions and amazing things along the way.
This is just a roundabout cycle, someone pretends to make a game were people learn, it gets junked because it doesn't work, and repeat. We add words like VR, AR, AI to hide the cycle a little but it's not half obvious.
This isn't evolution or prototyping or MVP or experimenting, it's a known circle.
I disagree, it IS evolution and MVPs and experimenting.
Vr tech IS improving and getting cheaper and better and more attractive.
We ARE finding ways to learn better with interactive content.
Whatever does not work does give lessons for the future on what not to do.
In the first few stages of evolution of any kind, the creations appear completely random and useless and inefficient. This allows one of the creations that happens to be a good fit for the environment to succeed. After that, the rest of the creation can be in forms of slight mutations rather than complete throw aways. Additionally, if you (or the creator) keep in mind to evaluate the failure cases, the evolution will be even faster.
That's sort of the end goal of the nascent "Neuro Archaeology" field. Spatial embodiment to the point that you feel what it's like to live in Ancient Rome.
When it gets to the fidelity where it transcends mere entertainment, it will have the power to convey empathy across boundaries of time and space and culture ;)