The goal of The Crossroads Virtual Museum program is to address the global task of cultural heritage protection through developing a Georgian-US online VR platform, or “Virtual Museum”, by training teachers and students from both countries in Virtual Reality technologies and engaging these technologies in documenting and preserving cultural monuments and artifacts, focusing on sites and artifacts at risk from military aggression, neglect, development, etc.

The program partners are Ilia State University’s (ISU) Cultural Heritage and Environment Research Center and Bridgewater State University’s (BSU) Department of Anthropology and Center for the Advancement of STEM Education (CASE). High schools from Plymouth County in the state of Massachusetts and from the Gori Region (close to the Russian Occupation line) in Georgia/Sakartvelo will participate in this project.

The project goals are:

• strengthening public schools, especially from rural or low income areas, by introducing innovative online virtual platforms based on VR technologies, international experiences, and possible future career paths;
• preservation of cultural heritage by increasing awareness and accessibility to modern technologies in the field, and by documenting at risk heritage through VR and photogrammetry-based technologies;
• expose both American and Georgian students from rural or low income areas to previously unconsidered career paths, both local and international, thus promoting sustainable development in Georgia and Massachusetts;
• improve cultural ties between the US and Georgia through innovative, VR based  educational and cultural programming; promote tourism in Georgia by increasing access to cultural resources;
• provide American students with a better understanding of Georgian history and culture, particularly its role as a crossroads of cultures;
• provide Georgian students with an appreciation not just for the history of the United States, but its complex, ancient, and ongoing Indigenous cultures.

These goals will be accomplished by meeting the following measurable objectives:

• Students will receive practical training in:
  •  cultural heritage conservation and preservation programs and the associated careers;
  •  photogrammetry, 3D scanning, and virtual reality techniques;
  •  application of photogrammetry, 3D scanning and virtual reality to cultural heritage and archaeology.
• Students will receive professionally-led tours of local cultural sites and museums, and will be given the opportunity to apply their knowledge of documenting and preserving cultural monuments and artifacts;
• Students will participate in a competitive test, survey, or similar activity, created in a playful “gamified” fashion, designed to test their knowledge and understanding of the history and culture of their international partner’s country;
• Students (both American and Georgian) will create 3D scans of artifacts, sites and monuments which they will feature in an exhibit in an international “Virtual Museum;”
• The program developed through the proposed project will be sustained and continued by participating Universities on a yearly basis, including other schools from Massachusetts and Georgia/Sakartvelo.

Expected Results: 

• Increased awareness of Cultural Heritage preservation and documentation at a school level.
• International “Crossroads Virtual Reality Museum” established.
• Innovative VR technologies introduced in Georgian and US public schools.
• Network of VR Labs established at 4 public schools of Gori district in Georgia.
• Equipment and activities developed at ISU, Georgia and BSU, US for continued outreach activities in Cultural Heritage documentation and VR technologies.