Augmented Reality Storytelling – Narrative Design and Reconstruction of a Historical Event in situ

Gunnar Liestoel

doi:10.3991/ijim.v13i12.11560

Abstract

<p class="0abstract"><span lang="EN-GB">How may we best utilize mobile augmented reality for storytelling when reconstructing historical events onlocation? In this article we present a series of narrative design considerations when developing an augmented reality application recreating the assault on Omaha Beach in the early morning on D-Day. To what extent may we select existing genre conventions from, for example, documentary film, and adapt them to a location–based audio–visual medium like AR? How can we best combine sequence and access, the narrative flow of an unfolding historical event with the availability of background information, in order to enrich the experience of the story, but without distorting its coherence? To what extent may we draw from existing and well known media representations of the Omaha Beach landing? How was the battle documented with contemporary means? We present the rich documentation of photos, films, drawings, paintings, maps, action reports, official reports, etc., and discuss how these have been employed to create the published AR situated simulation. We also describe and discuss the testing and evaluation of the application on location with visitors, as well as online tracking of its current use.</span></p>

Highlights

For more than a decade augmented reality systems have been developed for use in museum exhibitions and on cultural heritage sites [1, 2, 3, 4]
The designs in our own productions, prototypes, and published applications will belong under both ―reinforcing‖ and ―remembering.‖ When working with reconstructions of historical events on location, remembering is always an important type of narrative documentation, and seems to sit under the reinforcing category as well, and as an independent class
The movement of the virtual camera inside the digital 3D-environment, including position, perspective, and orientation, must be free and left to the user to control. Considering these differences, it is evident that the narrative design and storytelling reconstructing this historical event is quite different in indirect augmented reality than in traditional film making

Summary

Introduction

For more than a decade augmented reality systems have been developed for use in museum exhibitions and on cultural heritage sites [1, 2, 3, 4]. Stories unfold and exploit a variety of substances as their material markers They draw on all traditional information types, a rich register of expressive forms and, a multitude of users and contexts of use. Despite the limited availability of experiments and applications, Azuma [10] has suggested a threefold taxonomy for location-based mixed and augmented reality storytelling: reinforcing, reskinning, and remembering. The designs in our own productions, prototypes, and published applications will belong under both ―reinforcing‖ and ―remembering.‖ When working with reconstructions of historical events on location, remembering is always an important type of narrative documentation, and seems to sit under the reinforcing category as well, and as an independent class. We will discuss the narrative design, and how the application has been received and evaluated by visitors on location

Indirect Augmented Reality and the now-then tradition

Omaha Beach in Popular Culture

Contemporary Documentation of the Omaha Beach landing

Narrative Design

Testing and Tracking

Conclusion and Further Work