Virtual Sambor Prei Kuk: An Interactive Learning Tool

MUVEs (Multi-User Virtual Environments) are a new media for researching the genesis and evolution of sites of cultural significance. MUVEs are able to model both the tangible and intangible heritage of a site, allowing the user to obtain a more dynamic understanding of the culture. This paper illustrates a cultural heritage project which captures and communicates the interplay of context (geography), content (architecture and artifacts) and temporal activity (rituals and everyday life) leading to a unique digital archive of the tangible and intangible heritage of the temple complex at Sambor Prei Kuk, Cambodia, circa seventh-eighth century CE. The MU6VE is used to provide a platform which enables the experience of weaved tangible and intangible cultural heritage. This, we argue, turns static space into meaningful place. Further, this kind of digital model has the potential to bring together Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger’s theorizing on the importance of community in education and more recent theorizing on the impact of Virtual Worlds on learning by James Paul Gee.