Virtual Ulysses: Escape from Sandy Cove
Annually on June 16th, fans and fanatics of Irish novelist James Joyce's masterpiece Ulysses flock to Dublin to commemorate Bloomsday and retrace the journeys that its protagonists, Leopold Bloom and Stephen Daedalus, traipse through the town. To benefit those who cannot afford the luxury of a round-trip flight yet still wish to celebrate the anniversary, Aedin Ni Broithe Clements (Irish Studies Librarian and Curator of Irish Collections at the Hesburgh Libraries) luanched this exploration into the powers of virtual reality to recreate Dublin's iconic cityscape.
“Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed.”
Inspired by the novel's memorable first line, Adam Heet, Digital Projects Specialist at the Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship, drafted an escape-room game with custom-designed models of Dublin's architecture and landscapes. Mirror, razor, and bowl of lather at hand, players begin with shoreside views from Martello Tower at Sandycove, much the way that festival-goers at Bloomsday would, only to then puzzle their way out of the tower and into the cityscape.
-
Immersive Technologies Program Coordinator, Hesburgh Libraries
Liked this project? Partner with us