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Jun 21, 2021
Technology teams from both sides of the Atlantic joined forces to deliver a unique Virtual Reality (VR) experience.
For two days in July 2021, a few lucky people in Plymouth UK got to experience the future and explore the sights, sounds and now the smells of an era long gone.
The University of Birmingham’s Virtual Mayflower project was first demonstrated on the Barbican during the actual 400th anniversary of the ship's departure from Plymouth in September 2020.
With the easing of lockdown restrictions, the University team behind the VR experience, led by Plymouth born-and-bred Professor Bob Stone, returned to the Barbican for a special one-off event.
The new demo featured a 3D reconstruction of Sutton Pool including a number of new features and locations, with the Mayflower moored just outside in the Cattewater, and a unique olfactory display, or “smell” delivery system, designed to work in conjunction with VR headsets.
Collaborating with Plymouth-based Bluestone 360 Immersive and olfactory specialists from the American company OVR Technology Inc., the team pioneered new technologies in the delivery of smells to immerse VR users even further into computer-generated worlds.
It has to be said that the living conditions of 16th and 17th Britain were unsanitary, to put it mildly, and Plymouth, at the time of the Mayflower’s departure, was only four years away from another plague outbreak.
Yet, poor living conditions are not obvious from paintings of the time, especially those depicting the departure of the colonists in 1620.
Standing on hard harbour stonework and clothed in quite splendid costumes whilst looking out to the ship that would be their home for the next 66 days, it is likely that the reality was a far cry from such splendour.
From the stench of the drainage channels, conveying human excrement into Sutton Pool, to the more acceptable baking smells of Jacka Bakery, still in situ on Southside Street in the Barbican, those lucky enough to try this technology for the first time will be able to experience the 1620s like never before.
Prof Stone said: "The Virtual Mayflower and 1620s Barbican project has been over six years in the making and has involved contributions from a diverse a range of groups and individuals, including the bosun's mate of one of the Jubilee Sailing Trust's tall ships, a talented 3D modeller in Canada, an animation specialist in Warwickshire and a 17th century historian in Plymouth.
"And, of course, we'd like to express a sincere thank you to our American colleagues – Plimoth Plantation and the Mayflower II crew in Massachusetts and OVR Technology in Vermont – without whose contributions, this latest immersive tech demo would not have been possible.
"We're really excited to be able to offer this world-first 'smell the 1620s' experience to a few lucky people in Plymouth."
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