Ep. 46 - Preserving Holocaust Testimony Through VR and Volumetric Capture
From Dr. VR by Justin Baillargeon, Ph.D
February 12, 2026 · 47 min · Season 1 · Episode 46
About this episode
This episode explores how volumetric capture technology is used to preserve Holocaust testimony in VR through interviews with survivors.
In this episode of Dr. VR , I sit down with Dr. Oliver Schreer, who is an Associate Professor at the Technical University of Berlin and Head of the Immersive Media & Communication Group at the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute, to explore how cutting-edge volumetric capture technology is being used to preserve Holocaust testimony in VR. Dr. Schreer and his team developed two powerful VR experiences featuring Holocaust survivors: Eva Umlauf and Ernst Grube. Rather than relying on CGI avatars, they used high-fidelity volumetric capture to preserve the survivors exactly as they are—life-sized, realistic, and present. The result is not just immersive media, but a carefully designed encounter with living history and testimony. We discuss: How 32-camera volumetric capture systems reconstruct humans in 3D The technical challenges behind real-time mesh reconstruction and texturing A subtle but powerful innovation that enables eye contact in VR The ethical boundaries of modifying testimonial data How people respond emotionally and cognitively to immersive testimony Whether VR should become part of educational curricula The future of real-time 3D video communication beyond Zoom…
People in this episode
Host: Justin Baillargeon, Ph.D
Guest: Dr. Oliver Schreer
Topics covered
- Holocaust testimony
- VR technology
- volumetric capture
- immersive media
- educational curricula
- real-time communication
Keywords
- volumetric capture
- Holocaust
- VR experiences
- immersive testimony
- 3D reconstruction
- educational technology
- real-time video
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Technical University of Berlin, Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute
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