With virtual-reality technology, ISU students soon will be able to tour Radharaman, a Hindu temple dedicated to the worship of the god Krishna.

Carolina Cruz-Neira, associate professor at the virtual reality applications center, and Whitney Sanford, assistant professor of religious studies, are creating the temple with a $25,000 grant from the ISU Miller Fellowship.

The project will allow students to immerse themselves in the Hindu traditions and activities associated with the temples, Sanford said, and give them an opportunity to see what Hinduism is all about.

“In class, we don’t have ways to show the actions inside of a temple,” she said.

Not only can virtual reality show a place, but the technology is able to convey the experience of being in that place, Cruz-Neira said.

“This will significantly help understanding of a different culture,” she said. “It will allow a large number of people to virtually travel to India to experience the culture.”

Construction on the temple and its inhabitants began this fall, said Cruz-Neira, who designs and works with the project’s software. The simple design and layout includes a shrine, an open public area, columns and a few wall and ceiling ornaments. Virtual reality characters will move, sit, chat and dance through the temple, she said.

“It’s hard to convey [the] feeling in class,” Cruz-Neira said. “Virtual reality helps to convey this emotion.”

Students in the virtual temple should focus on the image of Krishna and the actions of the surrounding people, Sanford said.

Religion involves the entire body, and she hopes the temple will show students how people of the Hindu religion use their bodies to pray.

“We should have an understanding of different cultures,” Sanford said. “It’s like comparing a Protestant church to Notre Dame.”

Sanford will design a Web page for the project and work with the cultural aspect of India and Hinduism.

Beginning in March, the Virtual Reality Applications Center will hold monthly open houses, Cruz-Neira said. The C6 lab had nearly 5,000 visitors in 2000, and has been home to a virtual-reality library of historical architectural buildings and the creation process of a tornado, she said.

Cruz-Neira and Sanford hope to have a prototype by summer, allowing for feedback and possibly more funding for their project.

They also hope the community will take advantage of the new educational and religious resource.

“All are always welcome,” she said. “It is a unique experience not available anywhere else in the country.”