In celebration of Hōkūleʻa’s Homecoming after voyaging around Island Earth, the Polynesian Voyaging Society invited local and global community members to gather for a three-day summit to discuss mālama honua stories of hope inspired by the Worldwide Voyage and develop sail plans for the future of Hawaiʻi and our planet.
Academy for Creative Media students (Kari Noe, Andrew Guagliardo, Kurt Noe), ICS student (Anna Sikkink), and Learning Technology students (Patrick Karjala, Dean Lodes) celebrated the event by exhibiting Kilo Hoku Virtual Reality Voyaging Canoe Simulator.
Kilo Hoku is a project to explore the possibility of teaching future generations of students in the art and science of polynesian way finding using VR technology. The simulation puts the user on-board a virtual Hokulea twin-hull polynesian voyaging canoe and teaches them how to navigate between two nearby islands in Hawaii. The work was developed by ACM, ICS double major Kari Noe, ICS student Anna Sikkink, Learning Technology students Patrick Karjala and Dean Lodes.
The students not only demonstrated their simulator to the general public but also to Hokuleʻa navigators, as well as her captain, Kalepa Baybayan.