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In a world that keeps getting digitalized, I often find myself questioning what is real and what is not. One constitutes real life by utilizing their senses of touch, smell, sight, hearing, and taste. Yet, what happens when two of those senses are taken away? Or maybe three? Or maybe all of them except for one? How do you define what is real then? For me, I love being able to feel the grass beneath my feet or see a physical object in front of me that I can touch and maneuver however I please. When it comes to the world of history, I love to feel the actual object, like a newspaper, in my hands. However, sometimes very old things can crumble at just one touch, and so it is understandable why they would be digitalized and/or put behind a glass wall in a museum. Although I do prefer to get most of my sources from local libraries, I do not mind getting some of my sources from the online world. I mean, yes, in order to digitalize something it is required to change in a way. Like in an old newspaper that is no longer in circulation, the digitalized version will be different as there is no longer a physical copy of it, but all of the information is the same. My viewpoint is that although the real thing is oftentimes better than the digitalized version, sometimes the digitalized version is easier to navigate and find.
I think the world of reality vs. non-reality is brought to light in the center of Orlando, Florida, Disney World. Two weeks ago, I went to Disney World with one of my best friends, Savannah. I am an avid Star Wars fan and was ecstatic that I was able to ride the brand new ride. Yet, what was so cool about this ride is that it brings both the reality of riding a ride and the virtual reality of watching an animation together. You first enter this almost parallel universe at the beginning of the ride where you can feel the car moving and you are witnessing Disney World completely transform into the world of Star Wars right before your eyes. You know it's not real life but it feels 100 percent real. You can even feel the whoosh of a lightsaber hit your back at one point. I know that Star Wars was never real (although I wish it was). But, by telling this story, I want to convey to you that although the real thing might once have been the best way to experience a walkthrough of exhibits, virtual reality and the digital world is progressing in such a way that even if an article or a period of time is not in the physical world anymore, it can now replicate that specific thing almost perfectly. Thus, the progression of digitalizing materials is leaning in a direction that experiencing the digital version can be exciting and interesting. Of course, it can never replicate the real thing, but it can get pretty darn close and be a very useful tool when studying things that are not in the physical world anymore.
Even Museum exhibits are becoming digitalized. For example, In 2019, I visited the Louvre in Paris, France. There was a VR experience named ‘Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass’ where, through interactive design, sound and animated images, users could discover many details about the painting. This included details such as its wood panel texture and how the passage of time has changed the way it looks. It was a surreal experience. I felt as if I was visiting the actual physical painting. It was almost like it was real, but it was not. Yet, it caused me to question how I view history. I realized that I relied on the motto “If I can see it, I believe it”, and yet, here was something completely real yet not at the same time. Although I missed the smell of the painting or the feel of it, I was completely in awe. VR does not replicate real-life completely, yet it is a starting point when researching items that are either too far away to visit (like the pyramids) or not in the physical world anymore (like an old circulation of a paper).
(P.S. Check out the resources page for another article regarding the world of digital history and the comparison between what's real and what's virtual reality!)
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