Coventry Cathedral is a sobering reminder of the horrors of war.
The original building was described as a masterpiece by Sir Christopher Wren, but 80 years ago was destroyed in the blitz. Today all that remains is a shell of a building.
But thanks to a new virtual reality app, visitors will now be able to travel back in time for the first time and take a look around this 14th century architectural gem.
Groundbreaking use of Google Tango
The app, which will be available for both smartphones and tablets, uses a technology called Google Tango. It detects where you stand in the ruins and displays a recreation of the building’s former glory.
Combined with a virtual reality headset, visitors will be treated to a 360 degree tour across the cathedral, taking in the original stained-glass windows, decorative stonework and vaulted ceilings.
Fittingly, visitors will be able to experience the app for the first time at the RISING Global Peace Forum, held in Coventry on 15 and 16 November.
The experience has been developed by Sean Graham and Andrew Brooks from the Centre for Excellence in Learning Enhancement at Coventry University. Brooks and Graham hope to get the project successfully funded and open it up to all visitors in the future.
Graham told Coventry Telegraph:
“In order to build an accurate digital reconstruction of the building we were able to use items from the cathedral’s extensive archive including many documents which hadn’t seen the light of day for many decades.”
“As far as we’re aware this is the first time this Google Tango technology has been used to rebuild a historically significant place in this way.”
Find out more and be the first to experience Coventry Cathedral in VR at the RISING Global Peace Forum.
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