Seeing what takes place

Seeing What Takes Place is an interdisciplinary project aimed at creating interactive, immersive experiences of religious ritual. Live recordings of rituals captured using 360° video and ambisonic sound technology will allow users to approximate presence at religious practices, while interviews with practitioners, religious professionals, and scholars of religion will provide accurate real-time analysis and reflection on the practices.

A Digital Humanities Advancement Grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities sponsored a planning and design meeting in 2022. Scholars of various religious traditions came together with visual anthropologists, digital humanists, and immersive media creators to discuss methodological challenges, outline asset creation, and plan for meaningful community partnerships.