Virtual Omaha: A D-Day Recreation
An Interactive 3D Historical Recreation of June 6th, 1944 invasion
Purdue Online, the Purdue in D.C. Office, and FORCES Inc. invite you to attend the launch of the Virtual D-Day: Pointe du Hoc, the first entry in the new Virtual D-Day series of historical digital reconstructions on Steam, the world’s most popular online gaming distribution platform.
Date: June 2
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Location: 1333 H Street NW, 10th Floor, Washington,
D.C.
The launch will be followed by a reception and a day-long open house, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., featuring Purdue University virtual reality, military data science, and defense education projects.
Please RSVP at your convenience
The Virtual D-Day Steam experiences reconstruct, with historical accuracy, the decisive events of June 6, 1944, in Normandy. Guests will be able to experience and preview several immersive and analytical projects, including:
The assault on the legendary Pointe du Hoc by U.S. Army Rangers
The airborne drop at Sainte-Mère-Église in VR
A preview of Virtual D-Day: Omaha
The USAAF Strategic Bombing Campaign Data Science Dashboard
Operation Barbarossa Data Analytics
The Battleflow simulation engine
These reconstructions and applications were created as innovative tools for experiential learning and are integrated into Purdue Online’s M.S. in Strategy for Security and Defense, which will also launch that day.
RSVP
Please RSVP: Launch of Virtual D-Day: Pointe du Hoc – Fill out form or contact the project director and creator, Sorin Adam Matei, at smatei@purdue.edu or 317-416-5807.
Project details are available on the FORCES Inc. website:
https://forces.systems/research-outreach/project-dday.html
We hope you will join us for this launch and experience how Purdue is bringing military history, strategy, data science, and immersive learning together for the next generation of defense education.
Sincerely,
Purdue Online
Purdue in D.C. Office
FORCES Inc.
FORCES brings together military history, security studies, and technology in innovative ways. One project we’re particularly excited about is a virtual reality “tour” of the D-Day beaches in Normandy, France.
For the past year, the VR Omaha project, conceived and designed by Dr.Matei, has been upgraded by junior Fellow Matt Konkoly. Woking with Dr. Matei and Dr. Kirchubel, Matt combined his computer science studies with his interest in D-Day to create a new media experience. The FORCES TEA has returned Omaha Beach to its June 1944 condition by adding contemporary defenses, foliage, and terrain, and by editing-out modern changes such as the U.S. Cemetery at Colleville or ahistorical buildings at Vierville.
During the weeks and months leading up to Operation Neptune—the D-Day landings—the Normandy beaches became among the most photographed and studied real estate in World War II. Konkoly has used historical resources, mentoring by FORCES staff, and his own considerable talents to recreate the Channel coast as it looked on the eve of the invasion. The FORCES’ Virtual Omaha project allows viewers to stand on the bluffs overlooking the landing areas and “see what was” on those fateful days. With VR goggles they can fly over the Norman countryside, watch landing craft hit the beaches, or stand next to a German 75mm antitank gun.
Besides the obvious wow factor, our Virtual Omaha simulation has practical applications for teaching this critical episode of World War II. FORCES is working to bring the project to our partners in the military, alongside other similar virtual experiences, such as the Strategic Bombing Campaign and Barbarossa data and visualziation dashboard
Once the VIRTUAL OMAHA project is ready, the seminar’s director is considering future VR tours instead of actual visits, more effectively using many days of class time, and thousands of taxpayer dollars. Further, once our TOURS de FORCES start in the near future, our guests wearing VR goggles will be able to see what the beaches looked like in 1944, not just try to imagine them when compared to old black and white photos.