Capturing Scale Models and Re-Enactors for a WWII Immersive Cinematic VR Experience

Andreas Fischer October 19, 2026

Dr. Martin G. Debattista (Ph.D.)
University of Salford (School of Arts, Media and Creative Technology), England

Capturing Scale Models and Re-Enactors for a WWII Immersive Cinematic VR Experience

Dr Martin G. Debattista, a lecturer in digital technologies applied to tourism and heritage, conducted practical experiments on how immersive technologies like cinematic Virtual Reality (VR) can be adopted to portray conflict heritage as part of his doctoral research at the University of Salford (Manchester, UK). His Ph.D. was supported by the Tertiary Education Support Scheme (TESS) of the Ministry for Education of Malta.

His case study was the planned but never executed Axis invasion of Malta in the summer of 1942, codenamed Operation C3/Herkules. This ‘battle that never was’, which could have decisively changed the outcome of the war in the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations, was possible by combining the traditional physical and the digital into a ‘phygital’ interpretation experience.

Historically researched scale-model dioramas in 1/72 scale of the invasion fleet, airfields and a land battle were purposely built and captured with a 360-degree camera. Re-enactors firing a Bofors anti-aircraft gun and defending a pill-box emplacement, and a reconnaissance flight on board a WWII-vintage Piper Cub on the planned landing areas were also captured in cinematic VR. An interactive game was also developed to test psychological immersion and support the interpretation.

Following the prototyping stage with different solutions, ThingLink was chosen as the user delivery platform for its education-friendly design and easy interface. ThingLink’s features made it possible to assemble 360-degree images and video, and layer them into a narrative with information hotspots. A sample of historians, scale modellers, re-enactors, museum curators and digital interpretation creators experienced this immersive production and provided data on their effectiveness.

One key finding was that physical and digital media work best together: almost every visitor who tried the dioramas with VR preferred the combination on their own. Another was that immersion is less about delivering information than about presence and immersion, the feeling of being there. ThingLink was able to effectively support these two experiences.