Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 40, Number 6, 1 Iune 2023 — Immersive Virtual Exhibits Coming to Kaua'i Museum [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Immersive Virtual Exhibits Coming to Kaua'i Museum

By Edward McLaurin Kaua'i residents and visitors will soon have an opportunity to learn the rieh, faseinating and sometimes controversial history of the Kingdom of Hawai'i's royal families via a new exhibit at the Kaua'i Museum in Līhu'e. The exhibit will include a special emphasis on King Kaumuali'i, the last king of Kaua'i and Ni'ihau. His kingdom, alone, did not fall to the ambitions of King Kamehameha I and, after brokering a peaee treaty, Kaumuali'i ruled peacefully as a vassal king from 1810 until 1821 until he was abducted by King Kamehameha II and forced to marry Queen Ka'ahumanu. "King Kaumuali'i is the star here," Kaua'i Museum Executive Director Chucky Boy Chock said. "He is the biggest difference between us and other island museums." "Long before the small group of non-native Hawaiians plotted the overthrow of Queen Lili'uokalani in 1893 - whieh set in motion the annexation of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1898 - there was Kaua'i's fight for independence in the early 1800s," Chock said. "Our amazing team of volunteers walk our guests through the preserved artifacts from the infamous ship, Ha'aheo o Hawai'i, the luxury vessel King Kamehameha II used to capture King Kaumuali'i. Smithsonian archaeologists excavated the Hanalei Bay shipwreck nearly two centuries later and have donated most of the rare discoveries to the museum." Now the museum has partnered with nonprofit Kamāwaelualani Corp. and web designer Kaua'i Dev to create an immersive educational experience and bring

the exhibits to life with Extended Reality (XR). 'Awakening of the Ancestors" is an exhibit at Kaua'i Museum that showcases Kaua'i ali'i using XR, including virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). Ali'i will "be awakened" in three-dimensional form, where learners ean see the ali'i represented in a realistic form as if they were in the same room as the museumgoer. Combining the cutting-edge technology of XR with unique Kaua'i Kānaka Maoli culture produces a powerful learning experience. "It's really for our keiki of Kaua'i. What better way to use this techonology then to inspire keiki to learn more about Hawaiian heritage? For the Awakening of the Ancestors exhibit we have created a series of three installations using XR to bring our ali'i and artifacts in the Kaua'i Museum into the three-dimensional realm with interactive educational technology," Chock said. An exhibit using this degree of technology is especially powerful for Kaua'i because the island is often under-re-sourced when it comes to technology. Moreover, this exhibit will be the first to feature Kānaka Maoli historical figures and artifacts using XR technology for the purpose of not-for-profit community education. "This technology isn't at risk of going obsolete. The characters have been mapped to Kaua'i Museum, so this is where they live. XR is adaptable so we ean change what they say and what they do. If we have the vision and the resources, the sky is the limit," said Keoni Takekawa, the XR developer in the hui who's the artist behind the virtual creations. "Sharing these virtual creations with the community is a dream." This project is especially powerful because it uses tech-

nology as a storytelling tool to educate learners - particularly Kaua'i youth who are already adept at using technology - to connect to Kaua'i-specific Kānaka Maoli history in a way they haven't before. Nikki Cristobal is co-founder and executive director of grassroots Kamāwaelualani whieh is a partner in the project. "Ihe learning flows seemlessly when keiki get to witness the ancestors of Kaua'i being awakened before their very eyes using a platform that they're excited to get their hands on," she said. This project has tapped cultural practitioners from the community as experts to help inform the creation of the exhibits. At Kaua'i Museum, learners will use 3D goggles and/ or their smartphones to view the XR creations. Images, text, 3D animations, and/or sounds are superimposed to aid the learner to explore the content in-depth. "The bigger vision of this project is to inspire the next generation of Kaua'i programmers, designers, and cultural knoweldge bearers to be creators of culture using technology instead of being passive consumers as they are currently," said Nani Holroyd, a XR developer working on the exhibit through Kaua'i DEV. Six virtual kūpuna and a collection of virtual artifacts are being developed. These digital assets have been used to create three AR exhibits in the museum and two short video animations, allowing museum visitors to explore Kaua'i's history in a unique and engaging way. Chock said this series is just the beginning of a larger effort to bring more artifacts, ancestors, and mo'olelo into the virtual space to immerse museum guests more fully into Kaua'i's history. ■

A new virtual exhibit opening soon ūt the Kaua'i Museum will feature unbelievably realistic, animated 3D images of Hawaiian ali'i, and use technology os o storytelling tool to educote leorners in o unique ond engoging woy. This imoge from the Kouo'i Museum's website coptures five of the oli'i. Depicted L-R: Liwoi, o kōhili beorer; Keoli'iohonui, youngest son of King Koumuoli'i ond Queen Kopuoomohu; Princess Keleo, o wohine worrior considered the best surfer on Kouo'i; Kio'imokoni, Protector of the Winds ond o wor chief of Kaumuoli'i; Kohe'e, o wor chief of Koumuoli'i. - Photo: Kaua'i Mjseom www.kauaimuseum.org/xr