Graduate Student Hansjeet Duggal Uses VR/AR to Preserve History FREIHEIT Screens at International Forum Stereopsia

Hansjeet Duggal (MFA.FP) left emphatic mark in Brussels, Belgium this past winter. His VR project Freiheit was selected as one of ten participants out of over 100 shortlisted contenders across the world at Stereopsia an international forum dedicated to all artistic, technological, content, and business facets of 3D immersion.

Freiheit, which literally means freedom in German, is a thematic journey of sacrifice and hope told through a young Jewish child entering a concentration camp in World War II. With his mother by his side, the viewer follows the traumatic events that threaten their survival and hope to be together. Freiheit begins on a train, as it carries several people to Auschwitz camp including Helga (mother) and her child and ends with the struggle for their survival.

“I have taken serious consideration in crafting the story and have been mentored by Hollywood experts, and have kept every angle in mind so we can convey the right emotions to the audience because at its core every story is about emotions,” says Hansjeet. “It was emotions where this Virtual Reality project got its start.”

Realizing the importance of VR, Hansjeet emphasized, “I believe, Freiheit is my first step to preserve history in a very unique way. This lead us to use Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality to create something where we can preserve history and culture and present it to the coming generations where they can be immersed in the environment so the audience can actually put themselves in the shoes of the person in the past and experience history first hand in addition to reading texts.”

Coming from a background of animation and having experience of 8 years in animation production, Hansjeet is providing skills to many government bodies in both the U.S. and India, and has clients in Japan, Denmark, Australia, and Canada. Nowadays he’s looking for game designers, animators and actors.

“Animation is my way of touching people’s lives and hearts because animation is the only way where I can express my emotions in the fullest of my capacity,” says Hansjeet.

Along with animation, technology has always been inspirational. Hansjeet believes that art challenges technology and technology inspires the art. His newest stint in Los Angeles affords him access to the latest technologies and its makers/researchers. After presenting his VR/AR project in Brussels, Hansjeet found potential producers and distributors in France. Later he traveled to India as a Judge at Jaipur International Film Festival for over 130 movies which he reviewed around 80. Next he will be in London sharing the VR/AR project with a few vital people at the museums to reach a large and diverse audience.

Hansjeet Singh Duggal

“I can already see a vast majority of employment and job creation in the coming next 5-10 years with revenues touching 6 figures and more. Everyone has an access to a smart phone or a hand held device powered by internet, adding the element of VR/AR to it will allow people to seek & learn information in the most interactive manner which in turn will increase the retention rate but will also make things more fun. I can clearly see how VR/AR can revolutionize education which is also going on with me along with creating stories.”

More about Stereopsia:

Stereopsia is an international event organized in close collaboration with the Hollywood-based Advanced Imaging Society & VR Society and their EMEA Chapter. Stereopsia is about the magic, enchantment, & power of virtual reality. For the 9th consecutive year, the event brought together professionals hailing from science, technology, art, contents, applications and business of 3 Dimension, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and XR.