#virtual heritage

[flanthro]

Walking in the Footsteps of Early 19th-Century Freedom-Seeking People on the Florida Gulf Coast

By Uzi Baram, New College of Florida

Archaeology exposes, reveals, analyzes, and interprets the past. As anthropology, archaeological interpretations offer alterity, differences from our world. Once the scientific research was completed and published, some archaeologists would tell stories of the past connecting material culture to social life in a manner that allowed audiences to imagine a past social world, one different from their own. Those narratives were given in public lectures or written as popular books. Today digital technologies provide impressive visual opportunities to go beyond the printed page or a spoken performance.

 The maroon history for Second Spanish Florida (1783-1821) is not well-known. The heritage of Florida as a haven from slavery is commemorated by Fort Mosé Historic State Park, with exhibits, books, reenactments, and films. As one of the most challenging wars in US history and as a key period for the Seminole peoples’ survival in Florida, the Second Seminole War (1835-42) is documented by a wide range of scholarship even if the era is not readily recognized by many today. Between Fort Mosé and the Second Seminole War, researchers have only recently uncovered the struggle for freedom from the Apalachicola River to Tampa Bay. The history comes mostly from US military records from battles in 1816 and 1818 and raids in 1821 – we only have archaeological traces of the Black Seminoles, African Seminoles, self-emancipated people of African heritage, maroons, and other terms used for freedom-seeking people on the Florida Gulf Coast.

 In remembrance of the July 27, 1816 military battle at Prospect Bluff on the Apalachicola River, I partnered with Digital Heritage Interactive to create virtual worlds for the maroon landscapes at Prospect Bluff and the Manatee River. The virtual worlds offer the opportunities to walk in the footsteps of the maroons, at the Prospect Bluff military fort and the refuge by the Manatee Mineral Spring. Unlike the published articles and site reports, or my public presentations, the virtual worlds offer an avenue to engage the landscape of early 19th century freedom-seeking peoples.

 The commemoration is titled Tragedy and Survival, to represent both aspects of the history as military defeats led to falling back from the US border, further and further south into peninsular Florida. The people survived, some in interior Florida and others on Andros Island in the British Bahamas. The virtual worlds show the landscape without people, just the place and the materiality of the time before destruction – the viewer needs to imagine the places populated by people fighting for freedom.

Prospect Bluff, 1816

 Community of Angola on the Manatee River, 1821

 The virtual worlds are available for engaging online and for downloading, for free. Time Sifters Archaeology Society hosts the website for the project at http://tragedyandsurvival.timesifters.org/

The goal of Tragedy and Survival is inspire further interest, study, and research into the history and heritage of the early 19th century events and peoples. The website has information on chronology, a video of a September 2016 presentation by Uzi Baram, Vickie Oldham, and Edward Gonzalez-Tennant, list of references and even novels on the topic. Those resources encourage further exploration, to have you contribute to expanding the view on this history and encourage even more research on the early 19th century saga of freedom on the Florida Gulf Coast.

[universalear]

Google-translating this article about the discovery of a 2nd century painting of the God Pan ("legs of deer, but a trunk and a human head, capped with horns") in a Bourges cellar provides the following piece of wisdom, which sums up one of the underlying tensions of our forthcoming Bourges-based UNIVERSAL EAR episode:

"It will always be possible, one day, to make a facsimile of the places."

In context, it refers to the fact that the Pan painting will have to be permanently removed due to refurbishment work, while the room as a whole will be 3D scanned - giving future generations the possibility to enjoy the freaky picture in an authentic 3D printed plastic remake of the dirty old cellar. (This sort of thing is becoming common in Egypt, where apparently the difficult part is replicating the curse that was unleashed upon opening the original tomb).

Other place-fascimiles are more virtual still. The Teufelsberg Reverb software plug-in allows you to record your band's next hit using the reverb you would've got had you recorded it at the echoey old Field Station Berlin - a defunct cold-war era spy tower.

While one preserves the ambience, the other preserves the echo. In both cases, they are emptiness as heritage, the void made virtual. Together, they contribute to a post-God resurrection myth that reassures us that it will always be possible, one day, to make a facsimile of the the places and people we love, and of our own doomed bodies.

[colabtransmedia]

What could be the role of virtual reality experiences within heritage institutions and museums?

This article is a thought-provoking read for anyone who is interested in the possibilities of VR in the museum environment.

During my recent research trip I visited David Attenborough's Great Barrier Reef Dive VR experience at the Natural History Museum in London. I found it slightly strange to be ushered into a room with a group of people and then be instructed on how to put on the headset in the right way, at the right time in order to have an individual experience. Is this the ultimate expression of Sherry Turkle’s critique of our 21st Century relationship with media technologies, ‘Alone Together’? Or is there little difference between VR and cinema except patrons are spared the annoyance of mobiles glowing in the dark or the sounds of snacking and chatting?

While I found the collective yet very isolated experience of VR a little jarring, I do think VR has a place in a museum or cultural heritage context. While VR equipment is fast becoming cheaper and more accessible, not everyone will afford (or even want) to have their own headset, so offering VR experiences in this context allows greater access and understanding of this technology. And though the VR experience has not yet been perfected and can be uncomfortable and variable in quality, immersion gives the audience an ability to focus on a subject with great intensity and uniquely simulates the sensation of first-hand experience. Both of these characteristics can greatly enhance the learning experience and can add richness and depth to a wider narrative or experience.

[eveenwk-blog]

VSMM 2004: Proceedings Of The Tenth International Conference On Virtual Systems And Multimedia,17-19 November, 2004 Softopia Japan, Ogaki City, Japan: Hybrid Re (Stand Alone)

VSMM 2004: Proceedings Of The Tenth International Conference On Virtual Systems And Multimedia,17-19 November, 2004 Softopia Japan, Ogaki City, Japan: Hybrid Re (Stand Alone) This publication marks the tenth anniversary of VSMM (Virtual Systems and Multimedia). It contains articles taking many different perspectives on virtual systems and multimedia. The 'Hybrid Reality' and 'Digital Partner' papers presented in this book make a profound impact upon Art, Science and Culture. The articles presented explore virtual systems and multimedia research in cultural heritage, robotics, entertainment, environmental studies, medical, art forms, enhanced environments and mobility, and human factors. This book contains over 200 papers which were thoroughly reviewed and ranked. Six papers are written by people considered to be highly distinguished researchers, and the sixth special session of highlight areas include on Virtual Heritage, Volume Graphics, Digital Partner, Human Factor, Digital Human, and Mental Partner.