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VANCOUVER, WA - Want to learn about history at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in a new way? There's an app for that, as the Fort Vancouver Mobile app will make its public debut on June 9, in conjunction with National Get Outdoors Day. The free app -- funded by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Clark County (WA) Commissioners, and Washington State University Vancouver - is the first interpretation-oriented app in the national park system. This research project has been developed by a core of about 20 scholars, many in the Creative Media and Digital Culture program at WSU Vancouver, National Park Service subject matter experts, as well as by new media professionals in the region, and by the volunteer efforts of more than 100 people throughout the community. While many apps provide textbook-like information about people or places in history, or connect users to wayfinding tools, the Fort Vancouver Mobile app distinctly is designed as an interface for narrative immersion into a historical place. Those who download the app (through the Android or Apple markets) will have access to interactive stories connected to physical landmarks, which help to create a synthesis of the digital and the physical at Fort Vancouver. On June 9, the focus of the festivities will be on the debut of the first two modules created for the app: ·
A behind-the-scenes blog on the project is being kept at: FortVancouverMobile.net. Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, which attracts more than 1 million annual visitors to its Vancouver, WA, and Oregon City, OR campuses, has been seeking out younger patrons through various pioneering approaches to historical interpretation, including podcasting, digital archiving and social media feeds. The Fort Vancouver Mobile team, including chief ranger Greg Shine, was assembled in response to the potential offered by mobile devices, such as iPhones and Droids. Through investigations into the affordances of these integrated media devices, clips of audio, video, animation, and text, have been mixed to be delivered to visitors at the most ideal times in the most ideal places at the site to generate a sense of Fort Vancouver's story. Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, 1001 E. Fifth St., Vancouver, WA, will offer the National Get Outdoors Day and related activities, including the app launch, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 9. Admission to the event is free, and download cost of the app is free. |
Last updated: February 28, 2015