"Decameron 2.0 is a 3D virtual environment which is the product of the work of the Decameron Collective, a group of nine research creators from Canada. The project takes cues from Giovanni Boccaccio's plague narrative The Decameron (1348-1353) -- a medieval frame narrative about a group of ten who fled a bubonic plague-torn Florence to a retreat to the country where they pass the time telling stories. The virtual world is modeled on and incorporates design elements from medieval illuminated manuscripts as well as contemporary 3D modeling aesthetics. It is populated with audio, video, image series, and folio pages that include digital archival assets from collections of medieval illuminated texts as well as original collaboratively designed audio, text, films, photographs, music, visual art, algorithmic poetry, and games.
Decameron 2.0 is distributed via the World Wide Web and can be accessed on a laptop or desktop computer using any browser that supports WebGL. It was developed and coded by Hendrick de Haan using the cross-platform game engine Unity. Users move through the 3D environment using a mouse or trackpad and the WASD keys on the keyboard. Users can move freely to explore the courtyard, corridors, and rooms that make up the 3D environment." -- from the Decameron Collective
In addition to a courtyard and multiple corridors, Decameron 2.0 has 4 curated rooms described as follows by the Decameron Collective:
"Room A: Thresholds and Passageways, curated by Caitlin Fisher -- A 3D room resembling a cave, which consists of two interconnected chambers, containing 2D and 3D digital artworks.
Room B: Ephemera, curated by Jolene Armstrong -- A 3D room comprised of a rectangular and a circular half, with multiple wallpaper-covered, cylindrical columns and wallpapered ceiling, containing 2D and 3D digital artworks.
Room C: Spells, Magic, and Incantations, curated by Angela Joosse -- A rectangular, 3D room containing 2D and 3D digital artworks, with an exposed beam ceiling and large, overhead windows.
Room D: Women's Lives, curated by Monique Tschofen -- A rectangular, 3D room with a barrel vault ceiling and connected smaller rooms, leading to a connected open-air space surrounded by higher walls from three sides, containing 2D and 3D digital artworks."
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF FUNDING SUPPORT
Athabasca University Research Centre
Toronto Metropolitan University Faculty of Arts
York University Immersive Storytelling Lab
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)
LIST OF CREATORS, ROLES & EXTERNAL LINKS TO CREATORS from the Decameron Collective:
Decameron Collective, Creator
Joosse, Angela, Creator, Designer
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3198-4324
Armstrong, Jolene, Creator, Designer
https://orcid.org/0009-0009-0352-7506
Tschofen, Monique, Creator, Designer
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9594-8424
Fisher, Caitlin, Creator
https://elmcip.net/node/609
Maaren, Kari, Creator, Composer
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-4238-1847
Egan, Kelly, Creator
https://orcid.org/0009-0007-9846-9630
Fan, Lai-Tze,Creator
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7271-2160
O'Flynn, Siobhan, Creator
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0793-9048
Pruska-Oldenhof, Izabella, Creator
https://orcid.org/0009-0007-8097-7493
de Haan, Hendrick W., Designer, Developer
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7993-3625
Ajtony, Panni, Contributor, Cataloguer
https://orcid.org/0009-0007-9684-0395