Holocaust XR

As the last Holocaust survivors bear witness in an age of deepfakes, avatars, and artificial intelligence (AI), the authenticity of witness is at stake as never before. Holocaust XR examines immersive and extended reality (XR) technologies through the lens of testimonial methodology, ethics, representation, and authenticity. Written by a principal architect of the field of immersive testimony-Dimensions in Testimony, The Last Goodbye, IWalk-this volume moves from the philosophy of Walter Benjamin and Martin Buber to the technologies of virtual reality (VR) and conversational AI, asking a single urgent question: what methods do we use to preserve the agency of the eyewitness in an agentic world? At the book's ethical center is the "first-person-first" principle: the conviction that survivors must remain co-creators in the final act of witness. Scholars and students in Holocaust studies, memory studies, digital humanities, and immersive media will find here both a theoretical framework and a practitioner's guide-one that equips readers to navigate the ethical, representational, and technological choices that will define Holocaust memory for generations to come.

Stephen D. Smith is Visiting Professor of Religion at the University of Southern California (USC) and Executive Director Emeritus of the USC Shoah Foundation. His research spans oral history, Holocaust memory, and immersive testimony technologies. Co-founder of the UK National Holocaust Museum, his publications include The Trajectory of Holocaust Memory (2023).

Introduction Part I: The Theory and Practice of Testimony in the Digital Age 1. The Debris of the Future 2. Witness Machines 3. The Problem of Digital Resurrection 4. Face to Facebook 5. Loci of Witness 6. Infrastructures of Memory 7. Game Changing Part II: Immersive Testimonial Methodologies 8. Holocaust XR in Practice 9. Interactive Biography 10. Room Scale VR Testimony 11. 360 Testimony on Location 12. Walking Tours 13. Animated VR Testimony 14. Mobile Interactive Biography Part III: The Future of Future Technologies 15. The Ethics of XR Representations 16. Two Witnesses Speak on the Future of Testimony 17. Not Yet an Opportunity Lost