Using augmented reality to recreate battlegrounds and historic sites?

A. Roy

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Raleigh, North Carolina
Today on its Facebook page, the American Battlefield Trust posted an interesting video of an augmented reality (AR) application that imposes a Civil War battle scene onto the modern landscape: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1369574583214156

I'm wondering whether folks here are seeing this kind of effort being done to recreate battlegrounds and historic sites, especially in areas where preservation is difficult. I've been working on a book about the ring of CW defenses that was built here in Raleigh NC. Practically nothing remains today, but the engineer's map still exists, and it's possible to use that to trace the track of the entrenchments. The city is developing fast, which will likely make historic preservation difficult. But what if it were possible to create an augmented-reality model of the fortifications, so that you could walk around the city with your phone or tablet, and see where the redans and entrenchments were, and what they looked like?

I'd be interested in knowing what others have heard about this idea, and especially what kinds of applications might exist for developing this kind of AR presentation.

I've also just read about an effort like this in Charleston, SC:

"Students from Clemson University and the College of Charleston will use ground penetrating radar in downtown Charleston’s Marion Square to find exactly where the fortification called the Hornwork was built, the American Battlefield Trust said...

"The work by students over February and March will be used to create an augmented reality program that allows visitors to see the Hornwork, Jim Lighthizer, president of the American Battlefield Trust, said in a statement."

Roy B.

As an example, here is a screen shot from the American Battlefield Trust's video. What they've manage to do is to superimpose an animated battle scene on the modern-day remains of the battlefield (plus some modern-day guy who managed to insert himself into the video). What I would propose doing in Raleigh is less ambitious -- simply to overlay something like CAD (computer-aided drawing) images over a map of the modern-day landscape, to show where the fortifications were and what they basically looked like. And I suggest this, not just for the Raleigh project, but for any location where there is a desire to educate people about the Civil War history of the area. The implementation doesn't have to be as sophisticated as this type of animation.

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Roy B.
 
Augmented reality is an excellent tool for recreating long gone scenes that can’t practically be recreated, and I hope it sees more use in the future!

Thanks for responding to this. I wrote to the American Battlefield Trust asking about their application. Their response was that it was very expensive to do this. However, I'll bet it would be possible to do some interesting things with augmented reality without having to produce something so sophisticated as these animations. Some of us have been working here in Raleigh NC to track the locations of the Civil War fortifications around the city. I've wondered what it would be like to produce 3D representations of the redans and breastworks in the manner of CAD drawings superimposed virtually on today's ground. What if you could hold up your smartphone or tablet, and see the historical structures where they existed during the war, positioned via GPS or GIS?

Roy B.
 
the story on the front page That Link
But agin this from that link is this

Sorry, this content isn't available right now
The link you followed may have expired, or the page may only be visible to an audience you're not in.


Today on its Facebook page, the American Battlefield Trust posted an interesting video of an augmented reality (AR) application that imposes a Civil War battle scene onto the modern landscape: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1369574583214156
That Link & thats the message im seeing on that page... =) BUT then agin i dont know why im seeing it & youre not

Sorry I should of left it alone =)
 
the story on the front page That Link
But agin this from that link is this

Sorry, this content isn't available right now
The link you followed may have expired, or the page may only be visible to an audience you're not in.

Hmm, sorry that's not working. Do you have a Facebook account? If not, maybe it won't let you see this. Basically what they've done is to create an animated Civil War scene on today's landscape. You could hold up your smartphone or tablet and see this battle taking place as if it were right in front of you.

It's just a very short video. Here are some screenshots so you can see what it's like:

AugReality1.png


AugReality2.png


AugReality3.png


Roy B.
 
25 years ago, one of my children had a book with pictures of ancient sites as they appear now, and each page had a plastic sheet with a picture filling in the missing details and covering the modern intrusions. I guess you'd call that the analog version... It was cool though.
 
Going back a number of years, I've seen virtual walkthroughs of historic does like ancient temples and tombs. Augmented reality could tie such reconstructions to the actual locations today.

RB
 
Going back a number of years, I've seen virtual walkthroughs of historic does like ancient temples and tombs. Augmented reality could tie such reconstructions to the actual locations today.

RB
Although I like to look at things like that myself, I'm inherently distrustful of them - too often the creator is too taken with themselves and the mechanics behind what they've created and know far too little about the mechanics of the reality of whatever it is they're attempting to depict. The sample scene is a case in point; I seriously doubt any sane infantry would stop in the exposed position at the edge of the woods in a rudimentary line of battle without making any attempt at taking cover behind the many rocks, trees, etc. IF the creator is trying to depict a regulation line two men deep standing shoulder-to-shoulder as called for in Hardee's or Casey's Tactics, then obviously they've failed at that too. (And I seriously doubt they have any idea what Hardee's or Casey's are, much less what they call for!)
 
Hmm, sorry that's not working. Do you have a Facebook account? If not, maybe it won't let you see this. Basically what they've done is to create an animated Civil War scene on today's landscape. You could hold up your smartphone or tablet and see this battle taking place as if it were right in front of you.

It's just a very short video. Here are some screenshots so you can see what it's like:

View attachment 351176

View attachment 351177

View attachment 351178

Roy B.

The kid with the toy rifle gets me lol. That used to be me when I younger, and it still kind of is me now. 😂 😂 😂
 
I seriously doubt any sane infantry would stop in the exposed position at the edge of the woods in a rudimentary line of battle without making any attempt at taking cover behind the many rocks, trees, etc. IF the creator is trying to depict a regulation line two men deep standing shoulder-to-shoulder as called for in Hardee's or Casey's Tactics, then obviously they've failed at that too.

Absolutely. I think the main point in this case is to demonstrate the capabilities of the technology.

Even so, my interests in augmented reality are much more basic. Just the idea of developing CAD drawings of CW-era forts and earthworks that can be "seen" on today's battlegrounds seems like an interesting idea.

Roy B.
 
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