Creation of a Virtual Reality Experience for the Virtual Conservation of The Flamman Theater Using Unreal Engine 4

Abstract: The Flamman Theater identity was successfully digitally preserved for the cultural heritage of Gothenburg by creating a video game, while tested with pandemic restrictions. On the technical side, this project combines virtual reality, artificial intelligence and game mechanics to create an immersive atmosphere, inviting people to watch movies inside as the original theater was intended. Virtual reality makes a memorable experience for the player by allowing an interaction with the digital environment with grabbable objects. With the aid of artificial intelligence, the player is surrounded by Non-Player Characters (NPCs) walking around. In addition to that, the game mechanics allow the player to live the theater experience with textures where the movie is projected and spatial sound that changes the intensity of the sound depending on the distance from the speakers to the player. All the mentioned above were developed using Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) because it has capabilities to develop and play in real time virtual reality environments, artificial intelligence, interaction with human interface devices such as Oculus Quest 2, furthermore UE4 provides tools to prototype the already mentioned features without programming them from scratch therefore saving development time. On the other hand, the testing of the mentioned above required the creation of a new methodology based on the think aloud technique and the restrictions of the COVID 19 pandemic.