{"id":825334,"date":"2026-07-25T14:08:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T14:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/825334\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T14:08:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T14:08:09","slug":"camosun-college-develops-collaborative-virtual-reality-space-for-the-witness-blanket","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/825334\/","title":{"rendered":"Camosun College develops collaborative virtual reality space for the Witness Blanket"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>              Camosun College develops collaborative virtual reality space for the Witness Blanket<\/p>\n<p class=\"pubStamp\">Published 5:30 am Saturday, July 25, 2026<\/p>\n<p>An applied research project is bringing a profound Indigenous artwork about truth and reconciliation into a shared digital environment.<\/p>\n<p>Camosun Innovates is partnering with Indigenous artist Carey Newman and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) to launch an applied research project. The initiative will create a multi-user virtual reality environment for the acclaimed Virtual Reality Witness Blanket (VRWB).<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/witnessblanket.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Witness Blanket<\/a> is an influential installation made from more than 800 items gathered from 77 communities. Contributions include letters, photos, stories, books, clothing, and art, as well as fragments of buildings reclaimed from former residential school sites.<\/p>\n<p>Survivors, their families, band offices, friendship centres and governments donated pieces. Those responsible for the school system, churches, and the Canadian federal government also contributed items as a gesture towards reconciliation.<\/p>\n<p>Camosun\u2019s research will introduce two major enhancements to the virtual version of the artwork: A new multi-user interface and narrative designer functionality.<\/p>\n<p>Newman, the creator of the Witness Blanket, whose traditional name is Hayalthkin\u2019geme, is a Kwakwaka\u2019wakw and Coast Salish artist and a University of Victoria professor. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis VR builds on the original Witness Blanket,\u201d Newman, the current Impact Chair in Indigenous Art Practices at UVic, said. <\/p>\n<p>He adds that the platform is \u201coffering users the opportunity to interact with the objects, discover sounds of culture and language that have been collected from Indigenous community members before being integrated into the virtual experience.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s exciting to work with this new technology to engage audiences with the history and legacy of residential schools in a new way, while supporting meaningful dialogue and continuing education,\u201d Newman says.<\/p>\n<p>The multi-user component will allow multiple participants to interact within the virtual environment simultaneously, while the narrative designer tool will aim to empower Elders, educators, survivors, community witnesses, and curators to build customized journeys.<\/p>\n<p>Users can select artifacts, develop guided pathways, and record personal audio narratives.<\/p>\n<p>Richard Gale, director of <a href=\"https:\/\/camosun.ca\/innovates\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Camosun Innovates<\/a>, says the initiative expands the impact of the artwork.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis project will break new ground in the world of Virtual\/Extended Reality technologies while expanding the impact of this Indigenous artwork on communities and individuals around the world,\u201d Gale says.<\/p>\n<p>He notes the importance of the ongoing partnership.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt takes our previous work with Carey Newman and the CMHR to a new level, once again supporting and enhancing what has become a long-term collaboration in support of reconciliation and the Residential Schools era in our history,\u201d Gale says.<\/p>\n<p>The Witness Blanket was first displayed in Winnipeg, at the CMHR back in 2015. <\/p>\n<p>It is set to appear on display at the Royal BC Museum from April 28 until Sept. 5, 2027. Previously, it was displayed in Greater Victoria at Stelly\u2019s Secondary School in 2024 and the Arts Centre at Cedar Hill back in 2021. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Camosun College develops collaborative virtual reality space for the Witness Blanket Published 5:30 am Saturday, July 25, 2026&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":825335,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[49,48,61],"class_list":["post-825334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=825334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825334\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/825335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=825334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=825334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=825334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}