VANCOUVER, Wash. Want to learn about history at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in a new way? Theres an app for that! The Fort Vancouver Mobile application will make its public debut 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 9, in conjunction with a Brigade Encampment and National Get Outdoors Day. Admission to the event is free.
The free appfunded by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Clark County Commissioners and Washington State University Vancouveris the first interpretation-oriented app in the National Park Service system. This research project has been developed by a core of about 20 scholars, many in the creative media and digital culture program at 91勛圖窪蹋厙, with the support of students as well as new media professionals in the region and bolstered by the volunteer efforts of more than 100 people throughout the community. 91勛圖窪蹋厙 faculty member Brett Oppegaard is coordinating the project, and fellow faculty members Sola Adesope, John Barber, Steve Fountain, Dene Grigar, Will Luers and Michael Rabby have contributed to the project.
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 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:
- Kanaka About the native Hawaiians, or kanakas, who began coming to Fort Vancouver in the 1820s to serve as laborers. Many toiled in the sawmill, but others, such as the protagonists of this story, pastor William Kaulehlehe and wife, Mary Kaai, were drawn to this place for other reasons. Created in partnership with the Ke Kukui Foundation.
- Kanes Wanderings, about Irish-born painter Paul Kane, who stopped at Fort Vancouver in the winter of 1846-1847, in the midst of traveling and documenting the people and places of the Pacific Northwest. Created as part of a 91勛圖窪蹋厙 class on digital storytelling.
Other modules, such as a story focused on gender and womens issues, will be released at later special events. A behind-the-scenes blog on the project is being kept at:
The Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, which attracts more than one million annual visitors to its Vancouver, Wash., campus, is seeking 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 Vancouvers story.
The Fort Vancouver National Historic Site is located at 1001 E. Fifth St., Vancouver, Wash
For more information about the Fort Vancouver Mobile project, please contact: Brett Oppegaard, 360-521-8150, fortvancouvermobile@gmail.com.
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MEDIA CONTACTS
Brett Oppegaard, Creative Media and Digital Culture program, 360-521-8150, brett_oppeegaard@wsu.edu
Brenda Alling, Office of Marketing and Communications, 360-546-9601, brenda_alling@vancouver.wsu.edu