The New Technology Division of the Institute of National Remembrance participated in the Immersion Festival

This year’s Immersion Festival – an event dedicated to virtual and augmented reality, including product promotion and reflections on the future of VR technology – was held on 11-13 December in Warsaw, and the “Cyphers Game” had to be there.  The Palace of Culture and Science and the Central House of Technology featured educators, animators, creators and researchers working with new technologies. The stand with the “Cyphers Game” presented on two VR google stations was met with above-average interest, as evidenced by the long queues of people eager to immerse themselves in the scenery of the 1920 Polish-Bolshevik war.

On the third day of the festival, the Deputy Director of the IPN’s New Technology Division, Adrianna Paradowska, took part in a panel discussion entitled “Needs and Developments of New Media in Terms of Cultural, Educational and Scientific Institutions”, during which she talked about the accomplishments of the Division. The panellists not only pointed to the existing achievements and the spectacular opportunities offered by new technologies, but also highlighted the need for balance and the wise use of new tools in the educational process. There was talk of the need to establish standards and rules (regulations) for safe navigation in augmented reality and appropriate training among teachers.

In the following meetings, devoted to the exchange of experiences and the presentation of specific achievements, Director Paradowska once again presented the “Cyphers Game“, emphasising the measurable educational effectiveness of this game, which not only relays facts about the Polish-Bolshevik war to users, but above all encourages them to learn about our past. The speech also presented the result of a research process, that sought answers to questions about the needs and expectations of representatives of the young generation in the context of the study of contemporary history and education in general, in the research report “Immersive history education – towards new educational pathways“.

It is noteworthy that a leitmotif appearing in many of the statements made during the festival was the concern that new technologies should not be an end in themselves, but rather they should become a modern and effective educational tool.

You can see the entire event again at:

First day:

Second day: