The heritage sector has access to an increasing amount of digitized material, ranging from scanned objects and letters to complete archives. But one question remains challenging: how do you make digital heritage not only visible but also tangible? Because a 3D scan or animation is not an experience in itself. The question is not what you show, but how you allow someone to step into it. Studio Immersief developed an impressive VR experience about the vanished island of Schokland for the Zuiderzee Museum. Discover more about the creation of this unique project and its significance for the sector.
The Approach
The central question was simple: can you still physically experience a past that no longer exists? We built location, theater, and VR in layers:
Start in a physical location: visitors began in a real Schokker house in the museum. No screen, no headset. Just an existing space, making the story initially recognizable and tangible.
Transition to VR via a theatrical moment: instead of just putting a headset on people, a theatrical transition was created. Visitors literally stepped from a physical stage into a digital stage.
Time travel to 1850 in VR: in the virtual world, visitors saw the water rising and the house filling up. Not narrated, but directly experienced, making the urgency palpable.
On to the next location: the visitors were taken to a new place where they rebuilt their own house in VR. From that moment on, the visitor was literally in the midst of migration.
The remarkable thing: both children and older adults reacted instinctively. Even people who had never used VR before. They were not looking at the past; they were in it.
What It Resulted In
The most significant impact of this case was not in the technology, but in behavioral change among both visitors and the organization.
Visitors reacted physically and emotionally: many people experienced the scenes as if they were truly in the midst of it. Not "how beautifully made," but "I need to get out of here."
VR transcends generations. Children naturally stepped in, older adults hesitated for a moment but fully engaged. It required no prior knowledge: everyone immediately understood what was happening.
It attracts a new audience that normally does not come for heritage. Drawn in by the form, held in by the content.
The adoption within the organization proved crucial. Because employees and volunteers contributed, it became not a disconnected experiment but a shared experience.
The Conclusion
Schokland VR shows that heritage only has impact when you don’t let people look at the past, but place them in the middle of it. Such a project only succeeds if there is someone within the organization willing to take the lead. And if employees and volunteers participate from the start.
The most beautiful reactions came from visitors who said: “I already knew the story, but I had never felt it like this.”
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Thanks to DEN knowledge institute for digital transformation for the production of this video and providing a platform for Studio Immersief. Part of the DEN Conference 2025!