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The Voices of Oakland |
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The Voices of Oakland
| The Voices of Oakland uses Augmented Reality
(AR) technology to introduce visitors to the history and architecture
of Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta's oldest cemetery. Wearing headphones and
carrying a portable computer and tracking devices, the visitors walk among
the graves and listen to the voices of various historical figures. The
visitors can tailor the experience to suit their interests through a hand-held
interface. The Voices of Oakland is a prototype created using DART (the
Designer’s Augmented Reality Toolkit). DART was conceived and implemented
in the GVU Center at the Georgia Institute of Technology, with audio production assistance from the Digital Arts Entertainment Lab (DAEL) at Georgia State University. |
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Dr. James Nissen
James Nissen’s gravestone is too old and worn by the elements
to be legible. He was the first direct interment at Oakland, in
the year 1850.
Carrie Berry Crumley
Carrie Berry was just a little girl, 10 years old, when the general
Sherman arrived in Atlanta. Yet, despite her tender years, she
kept a diary of her experiences.
Franklin Miller Garrett
Thoughout the twentieth century, Franklin Miller Garrett’s
life and the history of Atlanta were interconnected. He was the
official historian of the city. |
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In this prototype of The Voices of Oakland, the experience
is controlled from a second portable computer communicating with the
visitors’ computer over a wireless network. This second computer
acts as a kind of “Wizard of Oz” interface, allowing the
tour guide to monitor which buttons the visitors have pressed on their
hand-held and to decide what audio segment should be delivered next.
In the final version of the experience, the visitors’ position
will also be tracked using a GPS (Global Positioning System) device,
allowing the experience to work without a human “wizard.”
The visitors walk through the cemetery and approach graves pointed
out by the narrator, or any other grave they find interesting. In
our current prototype, they can use the hand-held device to select
audio segments concerning: the life of the figure buried there,
the historical context, or the art and architecture of the cemetery. |
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