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 and Teams