Virtual Historian: Doctrine and Covenants (D&C) Version 1.0
Reviewed by Robert Pritchett
Blue Mango Learning Systems 28245 Avenue Crocker Suite 220 Valencia, CA 91355 (661) 775-8300 Fax: (661) 775-8352 http://www.virtual-historian.com/ Released: March 30, 2004 $35 USD http://www.virtual-historian.com/store.html Requirements: Color Monitor Capable of displaying thousands of colors with 800x600 or greater monitor resolution; CD-ROM Drive; Disk Space: Partial Install - 42 MB, Full Install 430 MB; Macintosh: OS 9 or OS X, 400 MHz PowerPC G3 or later, at least 128 MB of RAM; Windows 98/Me/2000/XP, Pentium II Processor, at least 128 MB of RAM. |
Cross-platform |
Blog: http://blog.virtual-historian.com/ FAQs: http://www.virtual-historian.com/userarea/faqs.html Media Downloads: http://www.virtual-historian.com/vh/downloads.html Strengths: Great use of QTVR panorama picture technology. Cross-platform. Weaknesses: No direct printing capability or picture exporting yet. Other Reviews: http://lds.about.com/od/productreviews/gr/vh_dandc_review.htm http://www.ldsmag.com/lineuponline/040325virtual.html Interview of Greg DeVore: http://www.meridianmagazine.com/radio/040520.html |
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I met Greg DeVore over on the Macintosh Software Business Forum (linked on our macCompanion home page) so we could do a review of ScreenSteps. Greg mentioned that he had this other software I might be interested as well that his team developed for use in the Brigham Young University religious studies department (BYU is part of a university network of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). So he sent me a boxed copy of this Interactive History Software developed on a Mac named Virtual Historian: Doctrine and Covenants.
Be aware that I received Version 1 and Version 2 will be integrating the Blue Mango Learning “Lesson Engine” - http://blog.virtual-historian.com/version_20_features/index.html
What They Say
We love history. But we don't want to hear just a few random anecdotal stories or interesting statistics. We want a complete understanding. We want to experience the places where history happened. We want to know the factors that motivated major events. We want to know the background of the people involved.
But we are lazy.
If we are to get all of this information about the Doctrine & Covenants by using traditional tools we would have to have
scriptures, multiple historical volumes, biographies, maps, timelines, as well
as videos and photographs of the locations. Our study table would be a mess.
Looking up information to understand the context of one book would send us on
chases through multiple volumes and resources.
This is fine for hardcore academics but we believe there is a better way to cram all of that knowledge into the head of the average person. Virtual Historian is your personal research assistant. By instantly providing context on any section you are studying it allows you to understand the history of the D&C more completely and more quickly than ever before possible.
Scriptures
Each section as well as the two Official Declarations, are contained in the program. Right alongside each section is historical commentary on that section. You never have to go searching through another resource. You can always see the history right alongside the scripture.
Maps
Virtual Historian
takes "page 167" and puts it front and center. The maps are always
visible in the program. One click on the mouse will load a map of where the
location you are studying was received.
Clicking on different areas of the maps will "zoom in" on that area, providing maps with more detail.
Media Viewer
Virtual
Historian: Doctrine & Covenants has over 100 Virtual Reality Photographs.
But we don't just provide you with a cutting edge multimedia experience. Each
location has historical background telling you why the location is important
and where it fits into Church History.
People
You cannot understand history without at least a basic understanding of the people involved in making that history. Virtual Historian: Doctrine & Covenants contains "Who's Who in the Doctrine & Covenants" by Dr. Susan Easton Black. This book contains biographies on everyone mentioned in the Doctrine & Covenants.
But we have made it infinitely more useful. The book has been cut up into the individual biographies. These biographies have then been linked to the scriptures, historical commentary, location commentary, and timeline events in the program.
This means that anywhere in the program that Newel K. Whitney's name is mentioned you can click on his name and read a biography on him. Each biography lists all of the sections that mention the person. These can be clicked on and instantly studied.
A Shift in Paradigms
For decades, history has been taught in much the same way. Slideshows have evolved into videos. Textbooks now have color. These have been incremental steps that mainly focused on refining the look of old presentation methods.
The problem we face is that history is constantly being created. This means that in 2004 we are responsible for understanding more history than we were in 1950. We cannot continue to use traditional methods and still learn everything we need to know. We need accelerated teaching tools that deliver understanding more completely and more quickly.
Virtual Historian represents a complete departure from the old paradigms of the textbook and the video presentation. We believe the Virtual Historian will not only revolutionize the way in which the Doctrine & Covenants is taught but how history in general is delivered.
There are two keys to the Virtual Historian Concept:
- Non-linear presentation
- Instant Context
Non-linear Presentation
Traditional resources start at the beginning of a story and take you to the end. They are a seven-course meal, where you must eat everything that is put on your plate. Virtual Historian is a buffet of resources that allows you to stroll through and only pick out the items that interest you. There is no beginning and there is no end. You can start wherever you want and follow your curiosity.
For example, you could click on a link to a biography, open up the media viewer for a location that was mentioned in the biography, then see a map containing the location and finally, read other sections that were received in the same place. Since you are controlling the experience you are only studying subjects that interest you. This increases your attention span and your retention of information.
Instant Context
The problem with a non-linear presentation is that it is very easy to arrive at information for which you have no context. Linear presentations organize information so that each new bit of information builds on information that has previously been presented.
Studying in a non-linear fashion has traditionally been like skipping randomly to various scenes in a movie. You have no context of the scene and thus have no idea what is going on.
Virtual Historian solves this problem by always providing instant context on anything you are studying.
- Historical background for each section is always present right alongside that section.
- One click of the mouse will load a map of where the section was received and jump the timeline to when it was received.
- All names mentioned in the Doctrine & Covenants can be clicked on. A biography opens up on that person.
- Locations mentioned in the D&C can be clicked on. A window opens up with historical background on the location as well as Virtual Reality photographs of that location.
These are just a few of the examples of how Virtual Historian solves many of the problems inherent in a non-linear presentation of history.
Virtual Historian: Doctrine & Covenants is just the first of many similar products that will be developed on both Religious and Secular History. We will keep you posted as new Virtual Historian Products are developed.
Timeline
Right alongside all of these resources is the Timeline. One click of a button will jump the timeline to when the section you are studying was received. Instantly you can see the historical context of the current section. Timeline events are linked to biographies, locations and scriptures so that additional information is just one click away.
What I Say
Wow, full-emersion study! “Follow your curiosity” should be their motto. If this program is any indication of future activities, such as the promised New Testament and US History packages, this is infinitely expandable for all kinds of history, don’t you think? And it can go much deeper and you can spend a lot more time with it than can be done watching the History Channel on TV.
Each Virtual Reality (VR) panoramic shot is a conglomeration of around 50 photos stitched together, which is almost as good as “being there”.
I really enjoy the melding of both “Instant Concept” and non-linear presentation in doing research and study of both religious and secular history. One of the neat features is that the timeline colorations are matched by the maps that also tie into documentation relevant to a given map. They system is self-contained and works on both Mac and non-Mac systems.
The downside is that the current version does not have printing capabilities and the workaround is to copy/paste.
This kind of technology has been needed for some time. I originally purchased the Infobase Library for the Mac OS that was created for Mac OS 9 before Folio Views was sold off and the Infobase Library went online and eventually was replaced by http://www.ldslibrary.com/LDSLibrary2006/ That application does not have a Mac version today and none is being planned for the foreseeable future.
I’m looking forward to the integration of the “Learning Engine” technology that is being integrated in for Version 2.0 from Mango Blue Learning Systems.
Thanks to the DeVore brothers, we again have a way to learn by involving technological strengths found only with Macs. Why not Email them to request work for your favorite history? Perhaps they already have it in the queue…
