Games Alfresco

Augmented Reality is the best way to experience history.

My dream is to have a “time machine slider” that allows me, in any given location, to see how things looked at a certain point in history. My field of view would be overlaid (with perfect registration;) using old maps, drawings, old photos, recreations in the form of documentaries, or even big hollywood productions.

It could get really interesting when I slide the time machine slider forward to see how a certain city might look in the future.

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Some folks are already trying to make this happen today. Just in time for the 4th of July. Checkout this fascinating initiative by a group of educators in Pennsylvania:

Our project, the Civil War Augmented Reality Project, is intended to

enhance the experiences of people visiting Civil War sites. It is also

intended to increase attendance and revenue for historic sites by

offering both “high” and “low” tech experiences to best reach the

majority of the population.

We feel that our project is fulfilling a need that educators, park

workers, technology enthusiasts, and Civil War enthusiasts have

discussed in the past: How can historic sites both raise educational

value and public interest in their institutions though technology,

while not alienating the non-technical history fans?

We have worked hard on the answer, and are interested in promoting our

creative solutions.

We would like to make clear that the project is not intended solely

for Pennsylvania. It is our hope that the project will expand to other

venues, as we feel that we have the ability to use our ideas to

enhance the experiences of all students at historic sites.

The approach for funding this project is also interesting: micro-funding using Kickstarter.

The initiative is driven by 3 visionaries:

Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: AR History, Art Titzel, Civil War, Jay Vasellas, Jeff Mummert |