- Joined
- Sep 2, 2019
- Location
- 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.
Roy B.
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.
Roy B.