This month we had a great opportunity and were able to visit the Daniel Adamson steamship, also known as “The Danny”, to sail from Acton Bridge along the River Weaver, to Sutton Weaver Swing Bridge. We demonstrated our new educational VR Project allowing members of the public to experience The Danny in a new way.

The Danny, originally named the “Ralph Brocklebank”, is a steamship that was built in the year 1903 and was decommissioned in 1985. This ship was once used as a dominant tug boat hauling goods between Cheshire and Liverpool, and was used to carry passengers between Liverpool and Ellesmere Port during WW1.

Today, The Danny is currently at the helm of skilful volunteers, who are extremely passionate about keeping both the ship, and its history alive. These volunteers who run the vessel, also conduct learning activities to teach the vast history of the ship and fuel a new generation of engineers.

https://www.thedanny.co.uk/learning

During our time aboard The Danny, we were able to show engineers and members of the public our Danny VR learning experiences. While in VR everyone had the opportunity to test 3 immersive learning experiences, developed in UE4 for the Oculus Quest 2. This works perfectly when demonstrating our work to various people in diverse locations.

The first experience tested was the “Danny 360 Tour”, which allowed them to navigate the ship in a 360, 3D space by just using their sight with no buttons needed. While navigating the areas of the ship, they got to learn about each room and understand what they are used for and why they are needed.

The second experience demonstrated was “Danny Learning”, which is a more interactive lesson that allowed them to grab, pick up and rotate ship specific objects, such as the boiler and telegraph. During their time playing with this app, they were able to take apart the boiler to understand what is inside and what each component is called.

The last experience was “Danny Steering”, which is another educational activity that allows the user to interact and sail the ship. Using the steering wheel to turn and the dual engines to move, they were able to understand how the ship travels and were able to virtually navigate down a river.