I turned my Torres Strait Islander culture into a video game
I turned my Torres Strait Islander culture into a video game
I turned my Torres Strait Islander culture into a video game
March 13, 2019
By Rhett Loban
Summary
Virtual reality is a relatively new and emerging technology but it has evolved rapidly within the past few years.
I have been a part of a wave of VR content creators and developed a VR experience, called Torres Strait Virtual Reality which is a new way of learning and depicting a First Nation person’s experience.
It provides access and insight into elements of Torres Strait culture, stories, and practices.
For me TSVR is an alternative learning medium where one is not just an observer of Torres Strait culture, but interacts with it, and is immersed in it.
Unlike a lot of the mediums before it, new digital media like VR, video games and computer simulations have an ability to represent culture in a way that has not been experienced outside of real world experience.
TSVR is not Torres Strait culture in its oldest form; there is a Torres Strait Islander concept called the cultural tree where a tree signifies the shifting and transformative nature of culture.
However, my vision is not just for a shift in how we might understand culture, but also how we may learn about that culture and other knowledge more generally.
As a student in high school and in my undergraduate degree I always felt it was challenging to learn the subject materials which were often through reading and writing.
For me, learning should not be something we should just memorise and do for a test, rather it should be something we enjoy, partake willingly and even reflect on afterwards.
It is essential that all sections of Australian society, including the Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal community, participate in the Stem field and wider digital economy.
It is important that we as Indigenous Australians are able to share our knowledge with the wider Australian community and vice-versa, which could be done through wider Indigenous participation and recognition in Stem.
Reference
Loban, R. (2019, March 13). I turned my Torres Strait Islander culture into a video game | Rhett Loban. Retrieved March 10, 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/14/i-turned-my-torres-strait-islander-culture-into-a-video-game