Students transform ancient philosophy into immersive digital experience

10 July 2026

Students at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) have developed an innovative immersive learning experience that brings one of philosophy’s most famous thought experiments to life, combining expertise from philosophy, games design and applied computing in a unique interdisciplinary project.

Group photo fo students with Dr Rebekah Humphreys and Dt Nik Whitehead in the immersive room with visuals on screens

The student-led project has seen seven Games Design students work alongside academic staff from the School of Applied Computing, the Wales Institute of Science and Art (WISA), and Humanities to create an interactive version of Plato’s Cave for the University’s Interactive Room in Y Fforwm, Swansea. Working in specialist production roles including 3D modelling, animation, sound design, texturing, lighting and Unreal Engine development, the students mirrored professional creative industry workflows while creating the immersive experience.

Designed as a teaching resource for philosophy, the immersive, multimodal experience will be available in both English and Welsh, making it one of the first resources of its kind to offer bilingual delivery. While centred on Plato’s famous allegory, the resource has been designed to support teaching across a range of subjects, including philosophy, media studies, semiotics, digital humanities, art and creative technologies. Alongside supporting undergraduate teaching, the experience also has the potential to be used during school visits, inspiring the next generation of students through immersive learning.

The project provided students with the opportunity to undertake an internship working on a real-world brief, developing professional skills while producing innovative educational resources with lasting value for the University. As well as enhancing students’ technical and collaborative skills, the project has created a sustainable teaching resource that can be reused, adapted and embedded into teaching across multiple disciplines.

Visuals on screen in immersive room with students standing with laptop in shot also

The immersive experience was officially showcased during a launch event on 3 July in the Interactive Room at Y Fforwm, Swansea, where staff and students involved in the project demonstrated the resource and discussed its development.

Dr Rebekah Humphreys, who co-led the project, said:

“This project has been a fantastic example of what can be achieved when students and staff work collaboratively across disciplines. It has given our students the opportunity to apply their creativity and technical skills to a real educational challenge while developing valuable workplace experience. At the same time, we’ve created an engaging teaching resource that makes philosophy more accessible through immersive technology.”

Professor Nik Whitehead, Associate Professor in the School of Applied Computing, co-lead of the project added:

“This project demonstrates the power of interdisciplinary collaboration. By bringing together expertise in philosophy, games design and immersive technology, our students have created something genuinely innovative that will enhance teaching while showcasing the skills they will take into their future careers. We’re particularly proud that the experience has been developed in both English and Welsh, making it accessible to an even wider audience.”

Joshua Platt one of the students involved in the project, said:

“It was exciting to work on a project that combined technology, creativity and education. We had the freedom to develop our ideas while working closely with academic staff, and seeing the finished immersive experience come to life has been incredibly rewarding. Collaborating with students and staff from different subject areas helped us develop new technical and communication skills, and it’s rewarding to know we’ve created something that future students will use to learn about philosophy in an engaging way.”

Studetns in immersive room with green colours on screen and ancient letters

The project was led by Dr Rebekah Humphreys from the Institute of Education and Humanities, Professor Nik Whitehead from the Wales Institute of Science and Art (WISA), Dr Nabeel Masih (WISA) and Phil Organ (WISA).