Using virtual reality to capture memories of border life in Northern Ireland

Border Sounds is a virtual reality film created during an outreach project by Northern Ireland’s national archive, PRONI, and creative media centre Nerve Centre in 2021. It features memories from 21 participants aged 20–60s who live near the invisible border line that divides the island of Ireland into two jurisdictions. This article uses Border Sounds as a case study to explore how sound, memory, and immersive technology can be combined to reimagine contested border spaces and to discuss the potential of participatory archives to reflect diverse voices in postconflict Northern Ireland. Through a content analysis of the film’s haiku poems and soundscapes created by the participants and a reflective analysis of the filmmaking process, we examine how borders shape identity and memory, and question whether memory-based projects such as Border Sounds can challenge dominant narratives, promote understanding across divides, and help archives become inclusive, collaborative spaces for diverse voices.