The great "auto de fe" at santiago de los caballeros, or how to achieve historical empathy with cultural heritage through virtual reality

Abstract

The project "The Great Auto de Fe in Santiago de los Caballeros"consisted of an interactive virtual recreation of this historical event that occurred on March 11, 1554 in the city today known as Antigua, Guatemala. A binational research team from Mexico and the U.S. made up of historians, architects and animation engineers, in the space of five weeks, created the historical settings, characters and interactivity necessary to offer the public this immersive experience. The project was presented within the framework of an international exhibition "The images of the Maya gods in the 16th century: The meeting of two worlds,"located at the Centro de Formacion para la Cooperacion Española in Antigua, the site of a former 17th century Jesuit College. This article presents the details of the workflow used, the social and cultural implications observed, as well as the results of the satisfaction surveys applied to approximately 80% of the users who had access to this experience.