VR – Witches of Islandmagee

We explore ways to use VR/AR to shorten the distance between cultural spaces and visitors engaging with the histories of place and intangible cultural heritage: specifically the history of the trials of the Islandmagee Witches at Carrickfergus Assize court in 1711. Users are placed on site at Islandmagee and experience the consequences of being branded a witch. In 2024, the app was announced Winner of the ‘Best in Festival’ Award at the Broadcast Education Association Festival of Media Arts in Las Vegas, USA.

Demonised: Bewitched and Possessed, VR Walkthrough
Developed by Helen Jackson, Victoria McCollum, Andrew Sneddon and Sentireal

DOWNLOAD DEMONISED

You can download a copy of Demonised as an APK file for your PICO4 or Quest 2 headset from the SideQuest website, CLICK HERE. We cannot provide assistance on how to load this onto your particular headset. Demonised is copyrighted work available under the Creative Commons 4.0 licence. Please leave feedback on SideQuest and cite as following if referring to it in written work: Helen Jackson, Victoria McCollum, Andrew Sneddon, ‘Demonised: Bewitched and Possessed’, 2023.

KEY COLLABORATORS

Helen Jackson is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Communication and Media at Ulster University. Helen has collaborated with Mourne Heritage Trust and Newry and Mourne Council through consultancy work to develop strategies to implement digital technology interpretive solutions for the greater Mourne area; Tourist and Business Council, Greenland, West Regional Authority, Galway, and ERNACT (European Regions Network for the Application of Communications Technology), Donegal, through the development of a project to deliver internationally sustainable, transferable and exploitable mobile solutions; and Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council and arts group Big Telly, to develop innovative technology-based interpretative solutions that are underpinned by the Council’s 5-year Culture, Arts & Heritage Strategy.

Sentireal (Northern Ireland) specialise in the creation of software applications using cutting edge immersive technologies of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality. Sentireal has grown rapidly and are considered one of the leading providers of bespoke immersive technology in the UK. The company recently received a Business in the Community award and globally a nomination in the VR Industry’s own ‘Oscars’, the AIXR Awards.