The tales of the Tokoloshe: safeguarding intangible cultural heritage using virtual reality

Abstract

This paper elaborates on the process of digitising Intangible Cultural Heritage, here exemplified by the oral tradition about the African cautionary tales of the Tokoloshe. First the core concepts of Intangible Cultural Heritage and its digitisation efforts are explained. This is followed by an explanation of what the tales of the Tokoloshe entails, and how it was used for constructing a fully playable Virtual Reality environment. The end product is a Virtual Reality installation of the cautionary tale being told around a campfire, from the perspective of an outsider. The player is then possessed by the Tokoloshe and must work with the village witch doctor to remove the bodily possession of the Tokoloshe. A full description of what is needed to play the demo is included in the last section of the paper.