Nothing beats the multidimensional experience of real life–seeing, hearing, smelling, and feeling an experience–but sometimes real life is not possible and seeing and hearing digitally are your only options. Other times, seeing and hearing are all you want or need.

Digitization of artifacts and experiences is simply another tool we have as historians and educators; it’s not a question of either or, nor is it a question of better or worse. The digital world gives access to artifacts and experiences that previously were not available in real life and in some cases the digital world is an insurance– a way to preserve artifacts. It can be a permanent archive for items that may not last the test of time like newspapers that yellow, crumble, and smell musty. What if you’re allergic to dusty, maybe moldy, old papers?

Is One or Two Senses Enough?

Civil War Battlefields virtual tours is a resource for teachers or Civil War enthusiasts that cannot afford a cross country trip. 360 tours show you all the grassy fields that were once covered with bodies and blood. It’s a visual experience and currently only 6 battles have 360 tours: Gettysburg, Antietam, Chattanooga, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and the Overland Campaign in southern Virginia. There is, however, a fundraising campaign working to create 360 tours of more battlefields. Overall, the experience was boring for me but I’m pretty sure I’d be bored in an actual visit to see green pastures; neither digital or real life experience is interesting for everyone.

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Discovery VR has a phone app and a category called Our World where there is a series called Blood and Fury– America’s Civil War. The series is made of four parts: A Letter from the Trenches, Urban Warfare, The Bridges, and Desertion. The longest is only 4 minutes and 53 seconds and the shortest is 1 minute 33 seconds. Each is enough to hook a student’s interest through virtual reality. The visuals and sounds make this experience real-ish. I could see my students enjoying this. Unfortunately, it requires phones in the classroom to experience and well, very few of my students have phones.

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All the Senses and More!

No matter how cool those two experiences are, nothing makes my heart go WHOMP!! nothing burns my nose and makes my ears pop, like being present as a Civil War cannon is shot. An advantage of living a quick bike ride from Manassas Battlefield means I’m not far from a live re-enactment and this multi-sense experience. I’m lucky though, not everyone can do this. However, not everyone wants to do this.

Historical reenactors firing in line NPS photo

Real Life? No Thanks!

What if the thought of standing near shooting cannons is terrifying for you? Real life isn’t for everyone. 360 tours and virtual reality are a prefect experience if shooting cannons isn’t your thing. Digital and virtual are better for you!

Forget cannons. Think dissection in real life vs digital. Blood, guts, formaldehyde, and dead animals vs an interactive flat screen. The ethical debate aside, many absolutely do not want to dissect a cat. So this once mandatory high school experience finds itself in court rooms today. Now, the real experience of dissecting animals is optional and this option has laws to back it up in several states, including Virginia.

Something for everyone

So whether it’s cannons or cats, we live in a day and age where people have more choice and opportunities than ever before. More choice and more opportunities? Can’t complain about that!

Interested in this topic? I enjoyed reading about meatspace.