South Australian - old ship, new crew
During 2023, researchers from Sydney, Australia and students from Kaiserslautern, Germany developed a virtual dive to the wreck of the English barque, South Australian.
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During 2023, researchers from Sydney, Australia and students from Kaiserslautern, Germany developed a virtual dive to the wreck of South Australian. The South Australian Virtual Reality Experience is expected to be exhibited at the Australian National Maritime Museum starting in 2024.
In the shallow waters of Encounter Bay near the coastal town of Victor Harbor in South Australia lies the wreck of South Australian. The English barque played a notable role in the state’s early colonial history and its shipwreck site is the oldest known in South Australia. Built as a postal packet, South Australian later served in the British Royal Navy, brought some of the first free settlers to Kangaroo Island, and ended its life as a whaling ship when wrecked in a terrible gale in December 1837. Although more than two centuries of natural forces resulted in South Australian becoming encapsulated within the surrounding seabed, stories of its voyages and demise were not forgotten.
In 2018, a team of researchers from the Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM), Silentworld Foundation, South Australia’s Department for Environment and Water, South Australian Maritime Museum, and Flinders University discovered South Australian’s wreck site. It has been archaeologically investigated during subsequent expeditions, which included comprehensive 3D photogrammetric surveys. The imagery from these surveys were in turn developed into 3D models by Rampe Realistic Imaging Pty. Ltd. Archival research was carried out in conjunction with the archaeological investigations and included review of ship plans, logbooks, correspondence, sketches, paintings, and other contemporary documents.
"The advantage to using a Virtual Reality Experience…is that we provide another means by which people who visit the museum can learn about shipwreck sites and experience them…in the same way I do"
James Hunter - Curator of Naval Heritage and Archaeology
Dr James Hunter, one of the project leaders and ANMM’s Curator of Naval Heritage and Archaeology, collaborated with Professor Holger Deuter and his Virtual Design students at the University of Applied Sciences, Kaiserslautern to develop a Virtual Reality Experience (VRE) for South Australian. The goal was to make the shipwreck site and its story accessible in an exciting and immersive way.
This is not the first VRE collaboration between the two organisations: In 2019, Dr Hunter, Prof Deuter, and their respective teams worked together to visualize the wreck of PS Herald. Over the course of that project, a lot of experience was gathered, and the resulting VRE application not only served as a foundation for the new team of designers to improve upon, but also as motivation to take South Australian’s virtual dive to the next level with the help of new technology.
Due to South Australian’s significant historical and cultural heritage values, it was only natural that the team would seek to digitally immortalise its story to the highest quality possible and make the experience of interacting with the wreck accessible for everyone.
Part of the Virtual Reality Experience (VRE) allows users to navigate South Australian’s weather deck as it appeared before the vessel’s loss in December 1837.
Holger Deuter/University of Applied Sciences, Kaiserslautern.
VRE users can navigate the bow section of South Australian’s shipwreck site and highlight audio icons to learn more about artefacts and features.
Holger Deuter/University of Applied Sciences, Kaiserslautern.
“In this application, users should not only be offered an authentic dive, but also an option to experience history in an immersive way.”
Jacqueline Kurzbach - Virtual Design student (University of Applied Sciences, Kaiserslautern)
A Dive for Everyone
The project was developed as a VRE installation for the Australian National Maritime Museum and can be experienced and navigated via VR headsets and hand controllers. However, the VRE’s applicability extends beyond museum exhibition, as it also offers an opportunity for non-divers to interact with a significant shipwreck site that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to visit. Other VRE projects created by the Virtual Design course include creation of virtual worlds that have delighted and brought enrichment to the lives of the elderly and disabled. The course’s future VRE projects will strive to improve multi-user and online accessibility, and include clients such as primary schools, universities, libraries, and homes for senior citizens.
The South Australian Virtual Reality Experience is a global collaboration that has involved a motivated team of students, researchers, and educators, and has effectively demonstrated how 21st century maritime archaeology can be conveyed to a broad, diverse audience with VRE technologies.
The VRE begins on a recreation of the research vessel Maggie III, where users are provided a brief history of South Australian and its loss.
Holger Deuter/University of Applied Sciences, Kaiserslautern.
The account of South Australian’s loss is depicted with animations of comic artwork that appears in a graphic novel created by Holger Deuter and James Hunter.
Holger Deuter/University of Applied Sciences, Kaiserslautern.
Written by Elisabeth Altmaier, Philipp Arnold, Shenghui Cheng, Christina Luntz, Jacqueline Kurzbach, Catherine Kutscher, Sanja Marx, Melanie Obers, Junis Schimdt, Pia Rossel, Nina Scheffel, Josha Terbach, and Chiara Williams from the University of Applied Sciences, Kaiserslautern.
Archaeological investigation of South Australian was made possible through the assistance of South Australia’s Department for Environment and Water and the South Australian Immigrant and Labourer Shipwrecks (SAILS) consortium.
Museum Collaboration on the South Australian Virtual Reality Experience
Australian National Maritime Museum