Walls of time
Echoes of Lives Within Concrete Walls
A collaborative VR project developed with Utrecht University as my final trimester project. The experience reconstructs WWII bunkers in Zeeland, Netherlands, blending historical accuracy with immersive storytelling.
Demo
Overview
Walls of Time recreates two historically accurate bunkers, a living quarters, and an ammunition store as reflective spaces where players uncover traces of the soldiers who once lived there.
The experience focuses on memory rather than combat. Players interact with simple objects: a helmet, a table, and a radio, each triggering a short memory scene that reveals moments of soldier life, such as writing letters, sharing meals, and listening to broadcasts. The ammunition bunker closes the journey with a farewell letter, leaving players with a sense of quiet humanity rather than battlefield spectacle.
The design goal was to present the bunkers not just as ruins of war, but as lived-in spaces filled with personal stories.
My Role
Solo developer responsible for:
Optimizing and texturing 3D scans of historical bunkers for VR
Designing and scripting interactive memory triggers (helmet, cutlery, radio, weapons)
Writing and integrating historically inspired letters and broadcasts
Implementing VR mechanics for object interaction and narrative sequencing
Creating a balance between narrative, pacing, and historical authenticity
Collaboration
This project was developed in collaboration with Utrecht University as part of my MSc final trimester. Historians and researchers from the Atlantic Wall project provided archival sources, blueprints, and photogrammetry scans of actual bunkers in Zeeland, which I adapted for use in VR.
You can learn more about their research here:
Environment
The environments were built directly from Utrecht’s photogrammetry scans, which I cleaned, optimized, and rebuilt in Unity. To capture the atmosphere, I added props like helmets, radios, tables, and crates, creating believable soldier spaces. Lighting and post-processing were kept minimal and grounded, dim, natural, and slightly claustrophobic to match the mood of life underground.
NARRATIVE
The storytelling is object-driven:
Helmet – A soldier writes a quiet letter home.
Lamp– Comrades share a meal, laughter turning into silence.
Radio – Soldiers listen to a wartime broadcast.
Final Letter (Ammo Bunker) – A reflection on endurance and memory, closing the experience.
Why This Project
I chose Walls of Time for my final trimester because it offered something deeper than just building mechanics or environments; it was a chance to turn history into an experience. The Atlantic Wall bunkers in Zeeland are not only important historical sites but also places that hold human stories, often overlooked in traditional accounts of war.
With this project, I wanted to step away from the usual focus on combat and instead highlight the quieter side of soldier life: writing letters, sharing meals, and listening to broadcasts. I aimed to create an experience that makes players reflect on the people who lived inside these spaces, rather than just the battles fought outside them.
Reflection
This project became a turning point for me. I learned how VR could communicate history through presence and subtle storytelling, rather than adrenaline-driven gameplay. Working with historians also taught me how to balance academic accuracy with creative freedom, preparing the project for both educational and experiential use. More than just a technical exercise, Walls of Time showed me how VR can preserve memory and connect audiences with the human side of history.