In the study by Wallis and Ross (2021), it is mentioned several times that the involvement of Indigenous people when designing, developing and creating Indigenous media is essential, as self-determination and authentic experiences are brought in. After learning about the importance of place-based knowledge and stories related to real experiences with sensory interactions, I started to wonder if the integration of AR/VR technologies can support sharing and creating digital Indigenous media that can also be applied to STEM education.
I’ve found some valuable resources on how AR/VR technologies were utilized by community members, elders, and Indigenous creators to tell their stories and make connections between the past, present and future (Wallis & Ross, 2021), which provided more direction for my final project:
I also came across an Indigenous VR game, Ksistsikoom which is a Canadian VR story game made in 2019 that takes you through the journey of a man who must challenge the powerful spirit, Thunder (Ksiistsikom). I would love to try this game out!
References
Wallis, K., & Ross, M. (2021). Fourth VR: Indigenous virtual reality practice. Convergence (London, England), 27(2), 313-329. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856520943083