Since we couldn’t meet physically, one of our goals was to meet virtually, with the use of immersive Oculus Go headsets and we chose to experiment with rumii. Each student, and the instructor, had his or her own avatar, and we prepared some sample 3D models from our Giza Plateau site (http://giza.fas.harvard.edu) for the students to explore wearing their VR headsets. The experience was novel and exciting for the majority of students involved. The interface should become even more natural in future iterations, as some of the bandwidth and server issues between the US and China improve over time. As far as we know, this was the first time that Americans and Chinese met in virtual space under the watchful gaze of the ancient Egyptian Sphinx!

Peter Der Manuelian, Philip J. King Professor of Egyptology

Harvard University

For those interested in learning more about Giza, see the free online MOOC course through the EdX/HarvardX online learning platform:

https://www.edx.org/course/pyramids-of-giza-ancient-egyptian-art-and-archaeology-0



The Giza Project Facebook page is

https://www.facebook.com/The-Giza-Project-at-Harvard-University-1872145656335515/

Download rumii for your classroom at http://dogheadsimulations.com





