Getting to grips with HistoryView VR

HistoryView VR is one of my favourite new platforms for grassroots level VR in the classroom. It offers an ever growing set of 360 tours of historical sites and museums, produced using the stunning Matterport camera to map the spaces in 3D.

It's one of those tools that ticks the three key boxes educators are often looking for:

1. It's free. ( Donations are welcomed)

2. It works on any device (a VR headset is optional but improves the experience.)

3. It's easy enough for any educator to pick up and use right away.

So I thought I'd put a little list of tips and tricks together for HistoryView Vr to help educators get to grips with it quickly and get the most out of this excellent platform.

Explore the library

The HistoryView library is growing all the time and beginning to incorporate more spaces from outside the USA. Use the categories on the left to navigate and find a suitable experience.

Sharing with a Class

Here's a quick way to share a direct link to a VR experience that you want to use with your class. Locate the experience you wish to share and click the VR headset icon in the bottom right. This brings up a direct link to the experience which you could turn into a QR code, share via a platform like Seesaw or Showbie or email to students.

Controls on a PC

If students are accessing without a VR headset, the following graphic explains the control system succinctly:

VR navigation

Look for the blue circles that appear as you view the space. You can click to move to these points and view the model from a new angle.

Take a closer look

The Matterport camera produces 360s with detail unlike pretty much any other camera. You can use the + and - controls in the bottom right to zoom in and out to look at more objects in more detail.

Enter the dollshouse

The dollshouse view is accessible from the icon in the bottom left that looks a little like a Tetris block. This switches the view to allow you to view and manipulate the entire 3D model of the space. From here you can also jump to a floor plan view from a bird's-eye perspective.

#VR #iOS #History