Virtual Watervliet

In 2012, Virtual Grounds partnered with the Shaker Heritage Society to develop a digital reconstructions of the buildings and lands of the First Shaker Settlement in America.

The Virtual Watervliet project allows Shaker Heritage Society (SHS) to achieve its mission to cultivate an interest in Shaker history while increasing awareness of the historic site of America’s first Shaker settlement and support for its preservation. The portal was redesigned and relaunched in 2023, with an updated 3D tour of the Church Family grounds based on the 1838 Buckingham Map.

Client: Shaker Heritage Society

The Goal

Bring back to life the Shaker settlement in its heydays and virtually rebuild the grounds of the Church family, one of three areas occupied by the Shakers in Niscayuna, Greater Albany, NY.
Map-based Digital Reconstruction

The reconstrucion was centered on the historical Buckingham Map, drawn by one of the Shaker Elders in 1838. It depicts the Church Family in its prime and details the structures used by the Shakers in daily life.
A Tool to Understand the Site

The 3D models were assembled as a web portal, an atlas of the Church family providing information on the occupation of buildings and lands. It was extensively used by the society when preparing lesson plans and educational content.

Award-Winning Approach

The project is centered on a comprehensive digital reconstruction of the publically accessible portion of the Watervliet Shaker National Historic District, known as the Church Family.

Holistic Interpretive Tool

The web portal includes multiple online opportunities to interact and learn from historical images, then-now overlays, an interactive timeline, a map tour, and 3D virtual tours. With a couple mouse clicks, the evolution of the historic site becomes visually accessible to those who participate in the Society’s education programs, local residents, and virtual visitors around the world. Guests can explore this resource at will, gaining a deeper understanding of the historic site and greater perspective on its part in American history.

Digital Components

The project is a valid example of reusing digital assets. The 3D models are featured in a 3D tour and on individual pages on the site structures, compose a building typology tool, and were the source for numerous 2D renders and graphics. The content was also optmized with responsive design for small screens supporting visitors of the Church Family grounds.

Virtual Watervliet Visual Gallery

Buildings uses and purposes, biographies, timeline, site evolution. The 2012 design was recepient of several awards for the innovative approach supporting online site interpretation.

Virtual Watervliet 2.0

The relaunch of the web portal in 2023 leverages cutting-edge web technologies and ensures its continued effectiveness as a robust tool for site interpretion

Receiving National Recognition While Supporting the Society's Mission

The groundbreaking approach of Virtual Watervliet received four national awards in 2013, recognizing the innovative application of web and mobile technologies for site interpretation, including the prestigious HIP (History in Progress) award granted by the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH).

In 2016, Virtual Watervliet was selected for the discussion round of Digital Public History on the Doing Digital History 2016 Summer Institute sponsored by the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media (RRCHNM).