Take a virtual hike with avatar bird Brownie to learn about the environmental changes that occurred in the Lehigh River Watershed in Pennsylvania during the past two centuries as a result of the zinc smelting plant operation at the Lehigh Gap.  Explore a series of 360° photospheres that contain interactive features to learn how a green mountainous ridge was transformed into a barren “moonscape” and how the area has been revitalized today. 

Watershed Explorers is available to play in a VR Meta Quest 2 or 3 headset, or in a Web browser.
 

There are two distinct experiences: Story Mode and Exploration Mode.  In Story Mode, avatar bird Brownie guides you through the photospheres.  In each photosphere, there is a task checklist of media artifacts that you must interact with before moving on to the next photosphere.  In Exploration Mode, a trail map allows you to navigate through the trail pathways, and you can freely explore each photosphere and all the media assets. The VR headset version only contains Story Mode.
 
HOW TO PLAY:
Please note that when you enter a photosphere, you need to use your mouse to look right, left, up, and down.

               

 
The minimum requirements:
2.5 GHz Intel Core i3 processor, 2 GB RAM, at least 2 GB of free hard drive space
 
Notes:
- This content is not currently supported on mobile devices.
- Depending on your network connection, the Lehigh Gap Story may take a minute or so to load on your computer.
- For best performance, we recommend using Mozilla Firefox web browser.
   Please, disable any pop-up window blocker
 

⚠️ ATTENTION Mac users:

- You need to use MOZILLA FIREFOX web browser to run a lag-free experience.

Click here to download the APK file to load on a VR Meta Quest 2 or 3 headset

Download and install SideQuest from https://sidequestvr.com/.
Connect your Meta Quest 3 to your computer.
On the top Sidequest menu bar, select the icon with the down arrow to install the APK file from your computer.

Select the downloaded file: weih.apk
This will install The Lehigh Gap Story in the “Unknown Sources” area of your library.
Open your Library.
Select Unknown Sources (Left column) 
Select Lehigh Gap Story
Click: "Allow this application to access data" when prompted

 

 

Click here to begin the Lehigh Gap Story

 

The Lehigh Gap Story was developed in partnership with the Lehigh Gap Nature Center.  This work is supported by Lehigh University Creative Inquiry.