App: National Civil War Centre, Newark
Nottinghamshire’s £5.4m National Civil War Centre in Newark, which opened last month, has launched an all- singing, all-dancing augmented reality app.
The app is free to download, and is designed to be used on site, providing an interactive map, timeline of the civil war and a siege game. But the heart of the app is an augmented reality viewfinder.
Images located on interpretation boards at eight points along the site trigger film footage that aims to bring to life the story of the Roundheads and the Cavaliers.
A portrait at the Queen’s Sconce triggers a trailer for the site. High- quality footage, worthy of a BBC period drama, recreates some of the scenes that would have played out during the sieges of Newark, intersected with what the sites look like today: spot the pastry shop and bank occupying some of the historical buildings.
Elsewhere, the images trigger footage of characters who share their experiences of the conflict in engaging clips, each lasting about one minute. The app is large but once it’s downloaded it runs offline and, unlike some augmented reality trails, the footage is quick to load.
Newark and Sherwood District Council, which developed the app with a budget of £500,000, created nearly 30 separate stories, so these can be updated. The app includes pop-up adverts.
Augmented reality is an excellent way to make the most of mobile technology and tell engaging stories. True, it’s not cheap to produce, but compared with a traditional audio guide, it’s probably money well spent.
Website: Teaching History with 100 Objects
Historical artefacts at a click. Nearly...
Launched at the end of last year, the Teaching History with 100 Objects project features the full number of objects on its website (www.teachinghistory100.org).
Developed by the British Museum in partnership with the Department for Education and 40 UK museums, the project aims to promote object-based learning and supports the history curriculum at Key Stage 1, 2 and 3.
From the homepage, users can select the curriculum stage they are interested in, and search by topic, date, place or theme. Underneath is a selection of images of the 100 objects, each of which has a pop-up caption.
The objects are accompanied by short explanations. There is the option for more information, a bigger picture and teaching ideas.
For an IRA poster warning nationalists of British agents, the website suggests comparing the message to other security posters such as Fougasse’s “Careless talk costs lives”, made in 1942.
The site’s title is a reference to the British Museum’s hugely popular A History of the World in 100 Objects series.
But the question is whether 100 is the right number of objects for an online resource that is designed to help schools teach the new national history curriculum in England.
Website: Rutland County Museum
A decent website produced for next to no money
Many of the websites reviewed here have benefited from large enough budgets to bring in expert developers. But for those without a lot of cash there is still plenty that can be achieved.
Rutland County Museum’s new website was developed on the free WordPress service and designed in-house, with volunteer feedback and a trial-and-error approach used to shape the digital experience.
The result is a clean website that provides clear visitor information, such as opening hours, the fact that admission is free to temporary exhibitions and what to expect from the permanent displays.
The museum used the collections management software Modes to create a plug-in that works with WordPress websites to host a collections database.
It trained volunteers to deliver an ongoing digitisation project, and also plans to feature short films and 3D images at a later date.
The collections are organised thematically (early life, Rutland at war and so on) and feature interesting photographs. Unfortunately, the text is dry and doesn’t manage to bring these objects to life.
However, this site shows what can be achieved with a small pot of money and an army of volunteers.
Nottinghamshire’s £5.4m National Civil War Centre in Newark, which opened last month, has launched an all- singing, all-dancing augmented reality app.
The app is free to download, and is designed to be used on site, providing an interactive map, timeline of the civil war and a siege game. But the heart of the app is an augmented reality viewfinder.
Images located on interpretation boards at eight points along the site trigger film footage that aims to bring to life the story of the Roundheads and the Cavaliers.
A portrait at the Queen’s Sconce triggers a trailer for the site. High- quality footage, worthy of a BBC period drama, recreates some of the scenes that would have played out during the sieges of Newark, intersected with what the sites look like today: spot the pastry shop and bank occupying some of the historical buildings.
Elsewhere, the images trigger footage of characters who share their experiences of the conflict in engaging clips, each lasting about one minute. The app is large but once it’s downloaded it runs offline and, unlike some augmented reality trails, the footage is quick to load.
Newark and Sherwood District Council, which developed the app with a budget of £500,000, created nearly 30 separate stories, so these can be updated. The app includes pop-up adverts.
Augmented reality is an excellent way to make the most of mobile technology and tell engaging stories. True, it’s not cheap to produce, but compared with a traditional audio guide, it’s probably money well spent.
Website: Teaching History with 100 Objects
Historical artefacts at a click. Nearly...
Launched at the end of last year, the Teaching History with 100 Objects project features the full number of objects on its website (www.teachinghistory100.org).
Developed by the British Museum in partnership with the Department for Education and 40 UK museums, the project aims to promote object-based learning and supports the history curriculum at Key Stage 1, 2 and 3.
From the homepage, users can select the curriculum stage they are interested in, and search by topic, date, place or theme. Underneath is a selection of images of the 100 objects, each of which has a pop-up caption.
The objects are accompanied by short explanations. There is the option for more information, a bigger picture and teaching ideas.
For an IRA poster warning nationalists of British agents, the website suggests comparing the message to other security posters such as Fougasse’s “Careless talk costs lives”, made in 1942.
The site’s title is a reference to the British Museum’s hugely popular A History of the World in 100 Objects series.
But the question is whether 100 is the right number of objects for an online resource that is designed to help schools teach the new national history curriculum in England.
Website: Rutland County Museum
A decent website produced for next to no money
Many of the websites reviewed here have benefited from large enough budgets to bring in expert developers. But for those without a lot of cash there is still plenty that can be achieved.
Rutland County Museum’s new website was developed on the free WordPress service and designed in-house, with volunteer feedback and a trial-and-error approach used to shape the digital experience.
The result is a clean website that provides clear visitor information, such as opening hours, the fact that admission is free to temporary exhibitions and what to expect from the permanent displays.
The museum used the collections management software Modes to create a plug-in that works with WordPress websites to host a collections database.
It trained volunteers to deliver an ongoing digitisation project, and also plans to feature short films and 3D images at a later date.
The collections are organised thematically (early life, Rutland at war and so on) and feature interesting photographs. Unfortunately, the text is dry and doesn’t manage to bring these objects to life.
However, this site shows what can be achieved with a small pot of money and an army of volunteers.
