They will be the virtual tellers of world history - and a Huddersfield expert is making it come true.

A new scheme called Interact intends to capture for ever the memories of the Holocaust.

And University of of Huddersfield academic Prof Minhua Ma is playing a leading role in the scheme.

Survivors of the Holocaust are fewer and fewer in number. But even when they have died or are too frail to provide a warning from history by talking in person about their experiences of Nazi persecution and death camps, they will be able to survive indefinitely in virtual form.

Thanks to new technology they will be able to provide testimony and respond to questions from future generations.

Interact has resulted in the creation of mixed reality virtual Holocaust survivors. Projected in 3D, they will give their personal testimony and then be capable of realistically interacting with the audience by responding to a huge variety of questions, using technology named ECA (Embodied Conversational Agent).

Huddersfield computer expert Prof Minhua Ma

It is all made possible by conducting 3D HD video recording sessions with survivors, including their responses to hundreds of the questions deemed most likely to be asked. A computer can instantly detect and analyse the spoken question, so that the virtual survivor provides the appropriate response. The technology known as “mixed reality” ensures high levels of realism.

Holocaust Interact will become an important feature of the National Holocaust Centre and Museum in Nottinghamshire. Prof Ma – a world-leading academic in the increasingly important and varied field of serious computer games – provided research expertise in natural language processing and human computer interaction, which enables computers to “talk” to humans.

“The purpose is to provide audiences with the rich experience of a human interaction,” said Prof Ma. “And it means that in the future, when all the survivors have passed away, we can keep this experience and help future generations better understand the history.”

Shoes taken from Auschwitz-Birkenau prisoners lie in a huge pile

There are thought to 800 Holocaust survivors still living in the UK. Most of those with actual memories of the Nazis and their attempted extermination of the Jews are in their 90s. Although many are still able to give personal testimony – such as an annual Holocaust Memorial Lecture at the University of Huddersfield – it is regarded as increasingly urgent to ensure that memories are retained for posterity. Interact will do this in the most vivid way possible.