Virtually in the Buddhist temple

A temple. In the middle of Switzerland. There is little at the entrance to indicate that you are standing in front of a religious building. Only the pagoda-like roofs in the background suggest that this is a Buddhist temple. We are in front of Wat Srinagarinvararam in Gretzenbach. But that's not right, because we're not actually in Switzerland, but at school, at university, in the living room at home or wherever you want to explore sacred spaces digitally using a laptop or - even better - virtual reality (VR) glasses.

The theological seminars at the University of Siegen have created a database and map that can be used to visit churches (Catholic, Protestant, Reformed and Orthodox), mosques, synagogues and now also a Buddhist temple. Virtually. The 3D videos were created as part of the project "Digital representation of sacred buildings and digital sacred space education".

Prof. Dr. Mirjam Zimmermann (Protestant Theology) and Prof. Dr. Ulrich Riegel (Catholic Theology) are leading the project. "We successfully applied for the Fellowship for Innovation for Digital University Teaching NRW with the project and were therefore able to purchase the technical equipment, such as cameras and VR glasses," explains Mirjam Zimmermann. The starting point was the question of how schools and universities should manage the task of visiting not only churches but also the places of worship of other faith communities with pupils and students as part of interfaith learning or learning to guide visits. "This is time-consuming, expensive and in some cases simply not possible," says the theology professor. This gave rise to the idea of a digital solution.

The theoretical background was provided by a conference with the results of an anthology on digital sacred space didactics by Mirjam Zimmermann and Ulrich Riegel. "We also created various new tours in a seminar with students," says Mirjam Zimmermann. "What was still missing was an authentic Buddhist temple, which doesn't really exist in Germany." So Vivienne Adolphs, a student assistant, went in search of one. She found what she was looking for in Switzerland and wrote her bachelor's thesis on the planning and creation of a virtual exploration of the Buddhist temple. "An excellent Bachelor's thesis," praises the professor.

Vivienne Adolphs from Waldbröl is studying religion and history to become a teacher at grammar schools and comprehensive schools. "I hadn't done much research into Buddhism until then," she says. In hindsight, however, it seems to her like a "guided path". There were three challenges for the bachelor's thesis: the technical skills required for filming with the 360-degree camera and creating the tour with 3D-Vista, the understanding of Buddhist teachings and the associated conversations with the monks in the temple and the didactic preparation of the virtual presentation for the PC or with VR glasses. "Vivienne Adolphs has done this very well and the standard of the Bachelor's thesis is remarkable!" emphasizes Mirjam Zimmermann.

The digital tour leads into all the rooms, provides background information, lets the monks have their say, invites meditation, contains additional information for teachers, quiz elements and a small avatar that takes the pupils "by the hand" as they walk through the temple.

"Our digital tours are a good tool for religious education," explains Mirjam Zimmermann. But do they really replace visits to churches, mosques, synagogues and temples? Can the virtual tour convey spirituality? Don't sacred spaces also have an effect through other sensory impressions? How it sounds there, how it smells, whether it is cool or warm, how you meet other people there? Mirjam Zimmermann nods. Churches or sacred spaces that are accessible should of course be visited and people there should be talked to, she says. "But where this is not possible, digital tours can be an alternative."

And not only that. In an initial exploratory study, it appears that those pupils who got to know the sacred spaces virtually showed even better learning results than those who were on site in analog form. So does digital learning about sacred spaces work just as well or even better than analog learning? Mirjam Zimmermann and Ulrich Riegels want to investigate this question in another project.

As a prospective teacher, Vivianne Adolphs also finds this point exciting. "VR headsets do restrict pupils in their social interaction. But the advantage is that everyone can see, listen and learn without distraction and at their own pace." She also took part in the monks' evening meditation and filmed it. Remain in silence for 30 minutes. This can be a special experience on site with the monks. "It hardly works on the PC alone."

This article appeared in issue 3/2025 of the university newspaper Querschnitt.