Added: History Unwired

History Unwired -- "History Unwired is a walking tour through one of Venice’s more hidden neighborhoods, delivered over location-aware, multimedia phones and PDAs. Developed in 2005, this project was a first-ever mix of mobile video, animation, audio, and bluetooth locative technologies in the tourism sector. The tour takes visitors around the neighborhood of Castello, guided by the voices of Venetian citizens who depict a particularly local experience of art and craft, history and folklore, public and private spaces."

Added: Cardiff's Audio/Video walks

"A video walk is similar to an audio walk but functions quite differently because of the visuals. With a video walk the participants receive a small digital video camera with headphones. The tape that they watch has been previously recorded on the site with a professional camera and binaural microphones following the route, which has been prepared with actors and props. Then there is an extensive editing process using the acted scenes, sound effects, and video effects to create a continuous motion. The audience follows this prerecorded film on the camera. The architecture in the video stays the same as the physical world, but the people and their actions change, so there is a strange disjunction for the viewer about what is real."

Added: 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, visitors walk among the graves and listen to the voices of various historical figures. 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) and evaluated using the “Wizard of Oz” approach with volunteer participants.The Voices of Oakland 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."

Added: Mobile Future

"Mobile Future is a coalition of cutting-edge technology and communications companies, consumers and a diverse group of non-profit organizations, working to support an environment which encourages investment and innovation in the dynamic wireless sector."

Added: The Carrier

"The Carrier, a complete original graphic novel by Philadelphia creator Evan Young, is now available worldwide. This marks a watershed moment for the American comic book industry: The Carrier is the first graphic novel to be published exclusively on the iPhone. "For the first time, a complete original graphic novel has been published exclusively on a mobile device in the United States," says Evan Young, creator of the story and co-founder of StopWatch Media, the company behind The Carrier. "This is not simply a single-issue comic book or a graphic novel that has already appeared in print and been repurposed for the iPhone. The Carrier is a complete, original graphic novel published first and only on the iPhone, integrating the iPhone's core technological capabilities into a creative storytelling experience," he says. And technology is a significant part of what makes The Carrier unique: the iPhone app, which can be downloaded at The Carrier's App Store page, utilizes mobile technology in its storyline and taps into the full power of the iPhone as a platform for integrating geolocation services, messaging, email and more. The result is that each reader comes away with a personalized experience."

Added: What Was There

"The WhatWasThere project was inspired by the realization that we could leverage technology and the connections it facilitates to provide a new human experience of time and space – a virtual time machine of sorts that allows users to navigate familiar streets as they appeared in the past. The premise is simple: provide a platform where anyone can easily upload a photograph with two straightforward tags to provide context: Location and Year. If enough people upload enough photographs in enough places, together we will weave together a photographic history of the world (or at least any place covered by Google Maps). So wherever you are in the world, take a moment to upload a photograph and contribute to history!"

Added: PhillyHistory

"The City's photo archive contains over 2 million photo records that date from the late 1800's. This web site contains a growing collection of those photos. All archive photos may be searched by keyword and date. Archive photos which have been assigned a geographic location are also searchable by proximity to an Address, Intersection, Place Name, or Neighborhood."

Added: SepiaTown

"SepiaTown is a cultural history project whose goal is to provide both a window to the past by merging photography, geography, and technology, as well as a forum for institutions and individuals to share and map historical images. We welcome archival images from collections large and small."

Added: Time Shutter

"Time Shutter allows you to use your phone as a window into the past. See what your city looked like a century ago with high quality photographs and postcards. Re-photograph the locations to make your own “then and now” transitions and see how buildings, streets, and people have changed over the years. Now supporting 2 major cities, with new ones on the way!"

Added: Treasure Mapper

"Treasuremapper allows you to trigger mediafiles on a mobile phone depending on where that phone is in real space. This allows you to create spatial media experiences, often refered to as 'locative' media. For example, you could create a detective story that requires someone to walk around town to discover clues. Taking a right turn instead of a left could have dire consequences in the story. You could create a romantic walk for valentines day in which you literally walk down memory lane. Treasuremapper was built to allow you to explore these locative possibilities. The goal of Treasuremapper is to allow a broader group of people to create locative media experiences. Treasuremapper makes it easy to design experiences, and the software itself is open source."

Added: Visualizing DC

"UMBC’s Imaging Research Center (IRC) is working to re-create Washington DC in its early years 1790-1820. Remarkably little visual information remains from this time period. What began as a simple effort to use 3D digital re-creation and display techniques has become full-scale research to uncover the original landscape. In 1791, Pierre-Charles L’Enfant arrived in Georgetown Maryland with orders from President George Washington to lay out the new Federal City. What did he actually see as he rode the land on horseback? This is just one question that we are trying to answer."

Added: Frequency 1550

"Waag Society developed a 'mobile learning game' pilot together with IVKO, part of the Montessori comprehensive school in Amsterdam. It's a citygame using mobile phones and GPS-technology for students in the age of 12-14 (so called HAVO+MAVO basic curriculum). It is a research pilot examining whether it's possible to provide a technology supported educational location-based experience. In the Frequency 1550 mobile game, students are transported to the medieval Amsterdam of 1550 via a medium that's familiar to this agegroup: the mobile phone. The pilot took place in 2005 from 7 to 9 February and was supported by KPN Mobile's UMTS network. At its UMTS launching event KPN put out this press release, but it's in Dutch only."

Added: Wanderlust

"Wanderlust is an experimental location-based storytelling platform. You can use Wanderlust anywhere in the world, as long as you're in the right type of place. To begin a story, you might need to be at a bar, restaurant, cafe, or airport. And if the story moves to another location, that's where you'll need to go. It's a new way of telling stories."

Added: Gettysburg Battle App

"The Gettysburg: Devil’s Den & Little Round Top Battle App is the perfect touring partner for your visits to the Gettysburg battlefield. Our GPS-enabled touring application allows you to discover all the great historical sites in this most popular region of the battlefield . Walk where the 20th Maine or 1st Texas fought – the units’ positions are right on the map. Pinch, expand, scroll, and explore our rich battlefield map with its many “virtual signs” and points of interest tied to the Devil’s Den and Little Round Top regions of the Gettysburg battlefield.

"

Added: Ambient Wood

"Ambient Wood is a multi-site project, within the learning and playing theme of the Equator IRC, that builds upon the experiences and lessons gained from the Hunting of the Snark project (Rogers et. Al 2002). A playful learning experience was developed where children explored and reflected upon a physical environment that had been augmented with a medley of digital abstractions. The latter were represented in a number of ambient ways, designed to provoke children to stop, wonder and learn when moving through and interacting with aspects of the physical environment. A variety of devices and multi-modal displays were used to trigger and present the 'added' digital information, sometimes caused by the children's automatic exploratory movements, and at other times determined by their intentional actions. To this end, a field trip with 'a difference' was created, where children had to discover, hypothesize about and experiment with biological processes taking place within a physical environment. Two experiences formed the basis for studies involving 40 pupils aged 11-12 years learning about habitat distributions and interdependencies. The second was followed by a classroom study exploring the use of a tabletop display and physical tokens to support children in moving from their informal learning in the wood to more formal learning in the classroom."

Resource added: Londinium

"The Museum of London has joined forces with TV Channel History to develop a new, advanced version of StreetMuseum, which gives you the opportunity to see Roman London, as it was 2,000 years ago. Streetmuseum™ Londinium directs you to locations across the capital where you can immerse yourself in the sights and sounds of Roman London. As you’re guided around the city you’ll unearth exquisite artefacts as if discovering them for the first time and reveal the stories of life in Londinium. From leather bikini briefs to hoards of gold coins, you can digitally excavate Roman artefacts where they were found, using your finger to dig or by simply blowing on your iPhone (blow mode only available on iPhone). Key Roman sites in London, such as the amphitheatre at Guildhall, are brought to life through augmented reality video – produced by HISTORY™ – which re-enacts scenes of Roman London against today’s modern backdrop. Soundscapes also allow you to listen to the hustle and bustle of the forum or the sounds of ritual incantation at the Temple of Mithras. (AR mode only available on iPhone). All these immersive experiences are brought together on a new map of Roman London – compiled and produced by Museum of London Archaeology – which is superimposed on a modern map of the capital, allowing you to see how the city has changed and grown over the last 2,000 years. You can also use the map to follow a guided walk around the visible Roman remains of the city, to see what is left of Londinium in 21st century London. With all these features in just one app, you’ll have everything you need to reveal the hidden London which lies beneath your feet. Want to continue London’s story? Visit the Museum of London to discover how the capital became the vibrant world city it is today, and to examine many of the artefacts featured on this app up close. Streetmuseum™ Londinium is available nowfor iPhones and iPads and is free to download."

Resource added: Mobile Media Toolkit

"The Mobile Media Toolkit shows you how to use mobile tech to enable citizen media and encourage independent voices. Learn how to capture quality audio and video on your mobile phone. ... The Mobile Media Toolkit is a project of MobileActive.org. Mobile phones are everywhere in today’s world, and they have many applications for those in media. Most journalists already use mobiles phones, but the sheer number of tools and applications available makes it difficult to know the most effective way to use them. The proliferation of mobiles has greatly increased the number and capabilities of citizen reporters, but questions remain about the role of citizen reporting. The public is consuming more and more information on mobile phones, but media organizations need to learn how best to disseminate their content and reach out to the mobile market. This is where the Mobile Media Toolkit comes in. There are many media projects that use mobiles effectively. There are also many tools and resources that can serve the potential needs of journalists, citizen reporters, and media organizations. The Mobile Media Toolkit is a collection of these tools and resources, as well as examples of how mobile phones can be and are being used in the media industry. The simple fact is that using mobile phones in media production isn't always as easy as it seems. Finding the right tool and using it correctly to reach the broadest possible audience requires knowledge of the mobile landscape. The need for guidance in the industry is apparent. The Mobile Media Toolkit provides guidance on tools, resources, and case studies of how mobiles can be used for reporting, news broadcasting, and citizen media participation on a variety of platforms and in a variety of circumstances."

Resource added: Civil War AR project

"The Civil War Augmented Reality Project was conceived by several public educators with technology experience and a desire to offer more interactivity to students and the general public visiting historic sites. The objective of the project is to develop and implement augmented reality services related to the American Civil War in Pennsylvania, and to modify soon to be released tablet personal computers to allow the general public a chance to experience the applications. The project’s inception is planned to give ample development time in the run up to the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War, beginning in 2011. It is hoped that early support could generate interest in Maryland and Virginia. We also propose to construct stationary devices patterned after the “pay binoculars” often found at scenic overlooks. These devices will offer a virtual geographic view from a few hundred yards above the user. Physically swiveling the viewer left and right changes the direction of the view in real time, just as swiveling up and down changes the view. The intuitive nature of the device is intended to invite “non-tech oriented” persons to try the experience, and learn more about AR and the Civil War. We propose that these binoculars be set up at locations across the region touched by fighting in the war. In order to give the user a sense of the historical connections between each location, a nearby screen will project realtime webcam images of people using the devices at other locations."

Moving beyond a static centerpiece ...

When I first visualized this resource, I pictured a static opening page to set a consistent tone for Mobilestorytelling.net. After a couple of years of that, and as I ramp up my regular refreshing of this site, I am rethinking that approach. From here on, I'm just going to start posting each new entry in a separate blog. And, then, as I move material around, I'll also blog about that. It will be more work, but, ultimately, I also think it will make the resource more valuable and easier to search.

Fort Vancouver Mobile in the news

My primary research project, the Fort Vancouver Mobile project, was featured in a front-page and Sunday centerpiece of The Columbian recently, a story which covered many of the basics of the project and illustrates why we are so excited about the potential of the work. In short, we are the first group in the country working with the National Park Service on the creation of interpretive mobile apps, rather than wayfinding or expositional apps. We are creating all of our own media, doing all of our own coding, making new app designs, sharing our workshop with the public (through the FVM blog), and learning and having a lot of fun along the way. If you would like to know more, or to help us beta test in the coming months, as we prepare for the public launch in June, please contact me at fortvancouvermobile(AT)gmail.com.