Wilhelmina Iimene
Education minister Anna Nghipondoka last week launched the first-ever Namibian world heritage site’s virtual reality tour of the Twyfelfontein /Ui-//aes world heritage site at the Franco-Namibia Cultural Centre in Windhoek.
The technology will allow one to have an enhanced virtual tour experience of the Twyfelfontein site through the virtual reality goggles. The heritage site of ancient rock engravings and paintings is situated in the Kunene region.
The Namibia Heritage Council (NHC) was selected by the African World Heritage Fund as the successful conservation grant recipient, and decided to use the funds to develop this virtual reality tour.
The minister stated that the digital technology should be appreciated for its benefits have grown, especially in terms of accessibility.
“The world can visit a museum or heritage site from anywhere. Although nothing comes close to the physical experience of visiting these cultural spaces, digital technology brings us pretty close,” she added.
The aim of the project is to provide access to visitors, mostly children, elderly and physically challenged individuals who are unable to take the long walk to see the rock art by having a full view of the site. The other aim is to educate and inform the visitors in a relatable and relevant way while making learning fun and enjoyable, but still maintaining the heritage significance of the site.
For now, the equipment will be found at the Twyfelfontein site only, but as time goes by, they will be made available countrywide online.
Developed by Werner Alweendo from Wow Marketing and Technology Solution, this virtual reality is the first of its kind for the Heritage Council and for Namibia at large. Speaking at the launch, he noted that it was challenging to develop such a project because it required a lot to create the reality of an environment in order for it to be experienced as a real-life experience, but is grateful for the opportunity from NHC to be on board nonetheless.
He thus urged the youth to take on virtual technology in their businesses.
“I would like to invite the youth to take on this technology, to really understand it to adopt it in their businesses so that we can bring solutions to this country,” Alweendo said.