On 29. April 2024, Dr. Berit Hummel gave a lecture entitled “More than Real? Spatial Experience in Virtual Image Environments Using the Example of Interactive City Panoramas”, in which she discussed the possibilities and limits of virtual space and, in particular, city representation using VR technologies. She gave a historical overview of artificial city-representation, taking into account the technical possibilities available in each case. Dr. Hummel critically examined the claim that artificial simulations ought to be true to reality, pointing out how deviations from realistic representations often result in desirable viewing effects. In the follow-up discussion, specifically one question was vividly talked about: When viewing works of art, which role does the lack of physical movement play in the experience of (merely) visually simulated cities?

Dr. Berit Hummel is an art historian and curator. She has taught both at the Technical University of Berlin and the Free University of Berlin. She currently teaches art history at the University of Münster in place of Prof. Dr. Ursula Frohne.