Introduction

In 2000 Life Magazine ranked Martin Luther as number three among the 100 most influential people in the past millennium. He had the audacity to challenge the prevailing Christian wisdom of the time. This was very risky business given the power of the Roman Catholic Church, especially the papacy. The Church was deeply entwined with the day-to-day activities of the civilized world affecting secular politics, peoples social standing and wealth, and in some cases their very lives.

Luther's life has been recognized in many ways. A traveling exhibit of Luther, named "Martin Luther: The Reformer", toured around the country in 2004. Additionally, numerous exhibits and tours exist around places significant to Luther's life.

Luther is a person worthy of exploring. He embodied many laudable qualities: compassion for the poor, honesty concerning his struggle with theological doctrines, and boldness in the face of a giant adversary -- the Roman Catholic Church. His beliefs provoked both strong sentiments and strong opposition. His views have shaped the world in positive and negative ways. On the one hand, his view of equality for believers and his challenge to the authority of the papacy freed the poor from the tyrannic rule of the medieval church. This freedom is pervasive in modern day Christendom and indeed has been woven into the very fabric of western democracy. On the other hand, despite earlier ecumenical works regarding Judaism such as "Jesus was born a Jew", Luther's later works, in which he seems to have completely reversed his views on Judaism, were often cited by the Nazis in defense of their anti-semitic policies!

Background

Born in Eisleben in 1483, where he died in 1546, Luther studied in Eisenach, was ordained in Erfurt, and defended his doctrine in Worms. He attained world fame as the leading Reformer of the Christian Church while serving as a Professor at Wittenberg University.

It was in Wittenberg, his home for 30 years, where he posted his 95 theses which questioned, among other things, the Church's practice of selling indulgences.

Indulgences absolved the buyer from temporal punishment for sins they had committed. The Church controlled what they called a "Treasure House of Merit" which was filled with accumulated merit from such acts as Jesus' sacrifice and other acts by the saints. This merit could absolve a transgressor from the ethereal consequences for their sin ... for a price.

Upon exploration of the New Testament Luther found such practices had no scriptural support. Instead, he believed grace was not controlled by The Church but was a gift from God through faith. He claimed:

• "All who call on God in true faith, earnestly from the heart, will certainly be heard, and will receive what they have asked and desired."
  

Additionally, he believed in the equality of believers, and thusly challenged the authority of the Pope.

• "Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason - I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other - my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen."

Furthermore, he believed the Word of God was paramount and should be accessible to all. In this vein he published the first German translation of the New Testament in 1522 followed by the Old Testament in 1530. This was unheard of and even offensive to the Church leaders who believed the Word of God did not belong in the hands of the uneducated.

It was in Wittenberg, inspired by Luther's teachings, that the Protestant Reformation took root and then spread across Europe and ultimately on to the Americas, Australia, Africa, and Asia. His beliefs inspired religious and secular thought alike. His view of the body of believers was essentially that of a democracy. The Church was not to be a religious institution of elitists, but should truly be the sum of its parishioners.

The Experience

Overview

The goal of the Virtual Reality experience "Martin Luther: Through the Eyes of a Reformer" would be to bring the participants into the major events that shaped the life of Luther. They will play the role of Luther in a selective montage of his various experiences.

The following timeline shows how Luther's life will be broken into chapters that will be experienced by the participant. Not all chapters will involve direct participation. The expected time to complete each chapter is specified in the Chapter Summaries section.

Historical integrity is of the utmost importance. Although most of the historical account presented herein is generally accepted as accurate, there are some experiences which I plan to include which may have stemmed from the surrounding mythos. Although these stories may not be completely accurate, their premises are accepted as legitimate and they offer valuable insight into Luther's character. All experiences that are viewed as possibly legendary will be identified as such.

Audio

There will be several spoken audio elements in this experience. A narrator will provide historical insight and scaffolding for the user as they venture through Luther's life. Luther and the characters he directly interacts with will also speak. Text is seldom used to provide a more immersing experience for the participant. Text and spoken audio can be in any of the supported languages specified in the Languages section below.

The narrator will provide both guidance and context for the participant. This narrator will be unobtrusive, speaking at the beginning of each Chapter and only briefly at other select moments. Additionally, if enabled by the curator, the narrator can be called upon for further detail when various items are picked up. This of course could result in a lengthier experience which may or may not be desirable.

The characters with speaking parts are: Narrator, Luther,  Johann Tetzel (a famous theatrical indulgence salesman), and a indulgences teller in Rome.

Additionally, small clips will be needed to make up the following: angry peasants in Wittenberg, praying masses in Rome, and miscellaneous soldier remarks.

All in all, this is a reasonable amount of dialog.

Additional ambient and interactive noises will accompany each scene as specified in the Chapter summaries.

Languages

The following chart shows the primary languages spoken in the United States according to the 2000 census:

I will attempt to acquire narrations in all languages mentioned above. How many are actually delivered will be the result of what resources I gain access to. Only one person will need to be found for each language, as they can use different voice inflections to fulfill the limited cast of characters. This person will preferably be male since, aside from the narrator, there are no speaking characters which could be female.

General Chapter Style

Each Chapter will begin with a brief Chapter slide. This will give the participant the feeling that they are being placed inside a story. Different Chapter intro slides will be created for the supported languages mentioned earlier.

Following the Chapter slide, a Narration with artistically rendered slides and musical accompaniment will set the scene in a compelling storytelling fashion a la the intro to Disney's Beauty and the Beast. The slides will slowly pan across the screen as the relevant information is narrated. They will not require any text because they will be timed appropriately with the narration.

The slide immediately preceding and following any interactive portions of the chapter will always be of the 3D environment being used. It will be rendered in the same artistic style as the rest of the slides. The pre-interaction slides fade into the "real" looking 3D environment and the environment fades into an artistic slide at the end of interaction. This adds coherence to the interactive and non-interactive parts of the experience.

This artistic style will be repeated throughout this experience. It will fill the space between the interactive elements.

Interactions are confined to fulfill the demands of a linear story. For instance, participants will have to complete certain tasks before moving on to others. Originally I considered a more open-ended environment, allowing the participant to change history based on their actions. But I decided this would likely obfuscate learning about the historical events themselves.

Chapter Summaries

Chapter 1: Introduction (0:45)

The introduction will be a short, non-interactive, retelling of Luther's early life. It will set the scene for Luther's encounter with God in Chapter 2.

Narrator:

"Luther was born Martin Luder on November 10, 1483 in Eiselben, Germany to parents Hans and Margarete Luder. The family moved to Mansfield shortly after. Luther, however, went to live with relatives in Eisenach at a young age where he was educated in the town's parish school. His father came from an impoverished background as a farmer's son. Hans worked very hard in hopes of securing Luther's future by sending him to law school one day. Luther began his collegiate studies at one of the finest universities in Germany located in Erfurt. He obtained a Master's in 1505 and was on track for law school. Hans was pleased with Luther's success and hoped his law studies would go as well. But Luther was not to become a lawyer, instead he would start a Reformation that changed the world..."

Slides - Hans Luder, Margarete Luder, Luther's residence in Eisenach, University of Erfurt.

Chapter 2: Encounter With God (1:15)

The second Chapter will include an interactive portion where the participant relives Luther's legendary encounter with God in the form of a severe thunderstorm. Luther is thrown to the ground and promises to God he will become a monk.

Narrator:

"One night, Luther was caught in a terrible storm while heading back to Erfurt from visiting his parents..."

Interaction:

Slide of the dark and dreary scene slowly becomes real and the user is free to walk down the path in the storm. As they walk, the storm will become increasingly loud and turbulent. Luther can be heard mumbling and arguing with God. This argument gets louder as the storm grows louder. You will also hear the sloshing of Luther's feet as the storm gets worse.  Eventually lightning strikes around Luther in several spots. The interaction ends with the camera panning back to see Luther fall to the ground and cry out to God, "I will become a monk!"

Narrator:

"Luther himself acknowledged this event in his later writings. However, its truthfulness has been questioned by more than one historian. Regardless of its authenticity, something profound occurred which redirected Luther's life from law to theology; setting him on the course to become a revolutionary. Whether it was a literal storm or an internal one, Luther struggled with God on this point. Eventually, much to his fathers disappointment, Luther joined the Augustinian Order in 1505 and took his monks vow in 1506."

Storyboard:

The Dawdling Participant:

This is not an issue here, the storm will grow worse whether the participant is moving or not.

Implementation Notes:

The rain/fog from the Harry Potter demo as well as the moon/clouds from the Dracula demo lead me to believe this is very possible.

Flashes of light will be implemented in scene with object surfaces brightening and dimming with the lightning.  It will not be a bright flash across the whole screen as to avoid any issues with epilepsy.  Lightning will be implemented as transparency-enabled billboards that appear and disappear as well as having some attenuating alpha in the process to make it look more dynamic.  When the lightning is surrounding Luther there will be brief overlay auras on the right and left at various times.

As will be the case throughout, the user's walk space will be fairly confined, probably to the path.  This enables us to create more intricate imagery.

Chapter3: The Tormented Monk (6:00)

Luther's experiences as a monk are recounted in this chapter. This chapter includes an interactive section where the participant is placed in a crowded Roman square in which people are purchasing and fulfilling indulgences. The patron, as Luther, participates. This hopefully will fill the patron with some of the same realizations Luther had about this practice. Namely, it was preying on the weak for monetary gain.

Narrator:

"The life of a monk was a difficult one. Each day typically starting at 3am with morning prayers. Luther dedicated himself to monastic life, devoting himself to fasts, long hours in prayer, pilgrimage, and frequent confession. One pilgrimage took him to the heart of the Chirstendom, Rome..."

Slides - Outside of monastery

Interaction:

The participant is placed in a crowd heading toward a Roman church where people are fulfilling purchased indulgences. You will hear the noises of people chattering, buying indulgences, and softly mumbling prayers.  The participant makes their way to the front and is spoken to by an indulgence seller.

Indulgence Seller:

"Ei, get your indulgence here. You sir, name of the relative being saved from the eternal fires."

Luther:

"Henrick Luther, my grandfather."

Indulgence Seller:

"Place 1 silver florin in the box, say prayers as you ascend the steps, when you reach the top your grandfather will be free...Next."

Interaction:

The participant puts a florin in the box, hears the clang of the florin as it hits the base of the offering box, and is instructed by the indulgence seller to crawl up the steps (if able). To avoid knee strain, a mat will be provided for the user to crawl on.  When they reach the top, interaction stops and narration begins again.

Narrator:

"Luther's trip to Rome left him unsettled. He returned to the monastery with more questions than answers. 'Rome is a circus,' he tells his superior Johann von Staupitz. Luther tried to please God through his dedication, but it only increased his awareness of his own sinfulness.Luther described this period of his life as one of deep spiritual despair. He said, 'I lost touch with Christ the Savior and Comforter, and made of him the jailor and hangman of my poor soul.' Nighttime was especially difficult for Luther. He was often heard arguing with demons. Luther lived in constant fear of judgment by God because he dared to think that perhaps God was not just. He viewed his questioning nature as sinful. He struggled with belief in the god being presented by the Roman Catholic Church; a god he viewed as unmerciful, angry, and unjust. Father Johann concluded that Luther needed more work to distract him from excessive introspection and ordered him to pursue an academic career at Wittenberg University."

Slides - artistic "drawings" of action described by narrator.

Storyboard:

The Dawdling Participant:

If the participant has not bought an indulgence for some time, the indulgence seller will become louder saying things like, "Buy your indulgence here."  Additionally, you will be able to hear other people talking about getting indulgences etc.

If the participant takes too long getting to the top of the steps, this is no problem.  The interaction can end before Luther reaches the top of the steps.

Implementation Notes:

In creating the video game "Art Thief" for Jason's gaming class, creating multiple animations including some involving motion capture, and finally in seeing the animations performed in the VR demos this semester, I am confident the crowd can be minimally animated in this scene.

The models can be found, for a small price, on the internet (I looked).  I can then import those into anim8tor and give them skeletal structures in order to give them a couple animation key frames.  Basically a complete step or complete crawl animation.  This is the technique I used in "Art Thief" to give the characters a standard pose and a interacting pose.  This method will be used for any characters Luther talks with.  It is surprisingly effective.

Characters will be spaced out effectively.  And since the interaction is not expected to last indefinitely, animations can be timed so most characters are typically moving forward slowly.  If they reach a certain point they just stop moving forward.

Again the user's movable area is not broad.  It will basically be confined to the steps and the square immediately in front.  Travel outside this region can be blocked by people (too crowded) as well as buildings.

To avoid nasty artifacts if the participant decides to crawl over people on the stairs, models will be hidden when the user comes in contact with them.

Chapter4: Burying Tradition (6:00)

Narrator:

"Luther received his Doctorate of Divinity in 1512 from Wittenberg. He then immediately took a professor position and began teaching on various New Testament books. His popularity grew rapidly due to his controversial views and his often humorous teaching style..."

Slides - artistic "drawings" of action described by narrator.

Luther:

"For a silver florin I freed my grandfather from purgatory. For twice that I could have sprung grandma and uncle Marcus too, but I didn't have the funds so they had to stay in the hog place. As for myself the priests assured me that by gazing at ancient relics I could cut down my time in purgatory. Luckily for me, Rome had enough nails from the holy cross to shoe every horse in Saxony. And there are other relics too. 18 out of 12 apostles are buried in Spain."

Slides - artistic "drawings" of action described by narrator.

Narrator:

"Indulgences sales were increasing. The building of St. Peters cathedral had left the Papal Court nearly broke. In addition, the Dominican monk, Johann Tetzel, sold indulgences in the region around Wittenberg in a very ostentatious manner..."

Slides - artistic "drawings" of action described by narrator.

Interaction:

The participant starts in the courtyard of Wittenberg University where Johann Tetzel is giving a demonstration.

Tetzel:

Placing his hand over an open flame he says, "Imagine the pain I am enduring right now. Imagine the fire burning my flesh. How much greater agony will we have to endure if we do not free our souls from the eternal flame. Buy an indulgence today. Secure your paradise. Remember, when the coin in a coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs."

Luther:

"This is infurating. I must do something, but what can I do? I know, I will write a letter to the Prince informing him of these atrocities, surely he will do something."

Interaction:

A door from the courtyard will be highlighted, indicated that Luther should go there. Upon entering the room, the participant will need to pick up the pen from the inkwell and scribble on the paper located on Luther's desk. As they do so, they will hear Luther reading parts of the letter. When enough of the letter has been heard, the letter will become rolled up parchment in the left hand and the pen will be replaced by a hammer.

Luther:

"I will post this copy of my letter on the doors of Castle Church for review by the community."

Interaction:

The participant then exists Luther's room to notice another highlighted door in the courtyard. They must walk over to the door. When the rolled-up parchment intersects the door, it is rolled out on the door and a blinking "nail" is seen appearing at the top of it, being held by the hand. They must then hammer that nail with their right hand to post the letter.

Narrator:

"Luther's passionate letter to the ruling Prince was later called the 95 Theses, as it contained 95 statements of belief many of which spoke out directly against the selling of indulgences, boldly calling the practice against the teachings of Christ. It is widely accepted that Luther did actually nail his letter to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, as was the custom of the time, for open discussion. People then speculate that this letter was taken by members of the Wittenberg community for duplication. However it happened, Luther's 95 Theses were quickly printed and disseminated across most of Europe within a couple weeks. This made Luther very unpopular with many people in power reliant on indulgences for much of their income. Luther was eventually excommunicated by the church in 1521 and brought before the Diet of Worms to recant his writings. The Diet of Worms was put together by the Emperor of Germany who refused to send Luther to jail without a trial. Luther was expected to recant unconditionally. But instead...

Slides - Diet of Worms and other artistic "drawings" of action described by narrator.

Luther:

"Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason - I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other - my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen."

Narrator:

"Luther was declared an outlaw by the Emperor. But for as many enemies Luther was making, he was also making allies. Luther allowed himself to be kidnapped on the way back from the Diet of Worms in order to protect himself from those powers who wished to see him imprisoned or killed. Luther was held in secrecy in the Castle of Wartburg by allies."

Slides - artistic "drawings" of action described by narrator.

Storyboard: 

The Dawdling Participant:

If the participant does not notice the blinking door eventually Luther will just say, "I need to go to my office" and the user will be taken there.

If they never figure out how to pick up the pen, it will eventually be placed in Luther's hand and he will say, "Now I must put pen to paper and relief my mind of these thoughts."  If they don't put pen to paper, it will eventually just start writing automatically.

If they do not notice the blinking door to hammer the 95 Thesis too, eventually they will just be placed there and the 95 Thesis will appear on the door.  Luther will of course say something like, "There, now let them judge my work."

Implementation Notes:

I believe the crowd here can be animated effectively in the same way that they will be in the Rome scene.

The additional animation of Tetzel will be very minimal.  He will basically go from not having his hand over the flame to placing it over the flame and then back.  While he talks, subtle head nods will be animated.

The "highlights" mentioned in this chapter, around doors and such, will simply be yellow boxes that are barely bigger than the doors.  Their alpha will then be attenuated to give a pulsing effect.  It will never by more opaque then roughly 25%.

The participants movements will again be confined.  In this scene they will have access to the Wittenberg courtyard and Luther's office which will be placed just off the courtyard.  Their movement can again be blocked by crowds mulling around to see Tetzel as well as University buildings.

Given my experience implementing the "burn" code in Dracula, as well as the object-oriented generalization of hands we implemented in Dracula.  It is very possible to have the pen/paper interaction work as expected for either lefties or righties.  The script being "written" on the paper will be implemented as a 2D transparency-enabled quad hovering above the paper.  A second transparency-mask quad will be set up to render before the script quad.  This transparency-mask quad (or quads) can then be moved around to "reveal" more script.  It will look like writing.

Chapter5: Unforeseen Consequences & The Protestant Reformation (6:00)

Narrator:

"While in seclusion, Luther works on a translation of the Old Testament into common German. His goal was to make the Bible accessible to all. Sparked by Luther's ideas, the peasants had begun violently revolting against the church. Luther, who typically spoke against violence, was hurt and alarmed by this. He wrote sermons condemning the peasants who partook in this uprising.  Under the alias of Knight George, Luther would sometimes leave the sanctity of Wartburg Castle..."

Slides - Luther's Old Testament, his room in Wartburg, and other artistic "drawings" of action described by narrator.

Interaction:

A mob has started attacking a local church.

Luther:

"I must do something, these peasants are out of control and harming these innocent people...and all because of me."

Interaction:

The participant must make their way to the front of the crowd, pushing people out of the way. When they make it to the door of the church, where the mob is entering...

Luther:

"I must use something to keep them away."

Interaction:

The participant must grab the nearby torch from the wall and wave it around in front of the people trying to get in. They will stop advancing.

Luther:

"Cowards, how dare you. You call yourselves Christians? Get a bucket of water, put out this fire you have started. This is not my work...this is not my work."

Narrator:

"The Peasants War, as it would be called, was finally put down in May of 1525.  An estimated 100,000 peasants died in the revolt.  Luther was initially troubled by the consequential division of the church caused by his beliefs.  However, his bitterness toward the church grew through their unwillingness to listen and debate his theology.  And with the Reformation gaining momentum he became increasingly supportive and bold.  The Protestant Reformation left the church divided and the supreme authority of the Vatican weakened.  It paved the way for religious freedom and spawned numerous Christian denominations.  Luther's later life was less remarkable.  He translated the New Testament into German, got married, and had eight children.  He continued to publish his works which, despite an earlier ecumenical attitude toward Judaism, became increasingly anti-Semetic.  Luther died in 1546 at his birthplace of Eisleben.  He left the world changed, he left it...reformed."

Slides - artistic "drawings" of action described by narrator.

Storyboard:

The Dawdling Participant:

This is probably the most difficult interaction to figure out.  Progressively better clues by Luther will be given if they do not realize they need to grab the torch to keep away the mob.

If they never grab the torch, eventually Luther will just give his speech anyway, with an added sentence at the beginning.  "Although I could not stop you today, I must speak against what you may do tomorrow."

Implementation Notes:

The crowd will again basically be implemented as before.  However, simple boid-like code, such as that used in the Dracula demo, will be used to give a few peasants at a time the desire to enter the cathedral but avoid the torch.  This will make the interaction mentioned possible.

Again, movement is confined to a square in front of a church.  Again, this is achieved by people and buildings blocking the various directions away from the square.

A Note on Disabilities

Various disabilities can make certain activities in the experience more difficult or even impossible.  The moderator may accommodate a variety of participant capabilities by turning on/off "restraints" on the interactions.  

For instance, the scene where Luther goes to Rome requires the user to crawl, that is they must get very low to the ground before Luther will move up the steps.  This restraint can be toggled on or off.  When it is off, the camera will automatically go "down" as if the user is crawling, even if they are not.

A printed pamphlet will be available in the various languages for the hearing impaired.  If development time permits, this may be incorporated into the experience as on-screen text.  However, this is not an insignificant task given the unique characters that exist in various languages and difficulty of therefore getting them rendered to screen.

A Note on the Religious Tone of Exhibit

Some may express concern about the religiosity of this exhibit.  Especially in regards to some of the language used.  However, it is a well-established practice in studying history to speak in terms of the historical period.  Especially in cases where Science cannot conclusively speak to the topics at hand.  Saying things like, "Luther was often heard arguing with demons", does not insinuate Scientific acceptance for the existence of demons.  It simply expresses the occurrences of the period in terms they would have used.

Additionally, many religious characters have been the subject of secular learning.  This is not new.

Why Virtual Reality?

The exhibit I'm proposing seems to be more of an interactive movie rather than a Virtual Reality simulation. So why VR? Virtual Reality, in general, can give people an emotional connection to the content in a way that other forms of media cannot. Experiencing Luther's life instead of simply viewing it, allows people of the 21st century to connect with a 15th century theologian.  The interactions, I believe, will give the patron a greater understanding of the character of Luther.  And understanding the actors in our history helps us understand the events in context.

References

http://www.luther.de/en/ - Summary of Luther's life

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther - Wikipedia on Luther, other Wikipedia articles referenced there in were consulted, such as those on indulgences, the Treasure House of Merit, and the Peasants' War.

http://www.ctsfw.edu/luther/article.php - Article about Luther: The Reformer exhibit.

Images were gathered through Google's Image search and Picasa's public photo albums.

Additional inspiration was drawn from the 2003 movie entitled "Luther"