Virtual Reality for the Preservation and Promotion of Historical Real Tennis

Real tennis or “courte paume” in its original naming in French, is a racket sport that has been played for centuries and is considered the ancestor of tennis. It was a very popular sport in Europe during the Renaissance period, practiced in every layer of the society. It is still practiced today in few courts in the world, especially in United Kingdom, France, Australia, and USA. It has been listed in the Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage in France since 2012. The goal of our project is to elicit interest in this historical sport and for the new and future generations to experience it. We developed a virtual environment that enables its users to experience real tennis game. This environment was then tested to assess its acceptability and usability in different context of use. We found that such use of virtual reality enabled our participants to discover the history and rules of this sport, in a didactic and pleasant manner. We hope that our VR application will encourage younger and future generations to play real tennis.