My mind, like many of yours, is dizzy with the possibilities engendered by the intersection of local history, public history practice, and digital tools like the iPod Touch. I wanted to share a few potential sources of inspiration that I’ve found in my sojourns around the web.
I’m not much of a gamer, but I do enjoy a good narrative game. I’ve been playing Echo Bazaar for at least a year now, and I recommend you check it out. You’ll need a Facebook or Twitter account to play. It’s set in a fictional world, but the in-game world of “Fallen London” has a rich history and cast of characters. I don’t by any means expect you all to build anything as near elaborate as this lovely game, but it is an interesting model for those of you interested in storytelling, especially of the Choose Your Own Adventure variety.
There’s an entire wiki dedicated to the use of mobile devices in museums.
There’s a newish site called Digital Humanities Questions & Answers, and it may prove exceptionally useful to you as you formulate your project plan and implement it. The people who participate in that forum are very generous with their time and expertise, so don’t be shy about asking questions.
Tours of London, led by the city’s homeless: an interesting approach to introducing people to the city.
What Was There is similar to HistoryPin, and it’s desperately in need of some Boise content. Ditto Sepiatown. And LookBackMaps.
Someone has provided a round-up of various projects that document Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. Maybe you’ll find some inspiration for your own project? (It’s flashier than anything we might build in a semester, but I’m especially fond of Curating the City.)
SCVNGR lets you build mobile scavenger hunts.
Hypercities is doing some cool stuff, especially around the recent Egyptian protests. Its developers describe Hypercities thus:
Built on the idea that every past is a place, HyperCities is a digital research and educational platform for exploring, learning about, and interacting with the layered histories of city and global spaces. Developed though collaboration between UCLA and USC, the fundamental idea behind HyperCities is that all stories take place somewhere and sometime; they become meaningful when they interact and intersect with other stories. Using Google Maps and Google Earth, HyperCities essentially allows users to go back in time to create and explore the historical layers of city spaces in an interactive, hypermedia environment.
Cliocaching looks to be fun.
Definitely check out the Flickr pool Looking into the Past. (No one has yet contributed any Boise images.)
What have you found this week?