In the realm of historic tourism and public history, not all sites are equal. Due to varying funding and location, some sites are visitor-rich, while many struggle to survive. We feel that this variance damages history education.
CC, Dougtone on Flickr
The public is led to believe that some historic narratives are more important than others, and that historic experiences are held in orbit around high-visitation areas and the often short-lived, singular historic events promoted by those areas.
We feel that responsibly designed augmented reality can serve as an equalizer. Once the world becomes the museum, the public is offered exciting and thought-provoking experiences throughout a region, and throughout time periods.
Gettysburg visitors can be drawn, through interactive personal stories, from the battlefield to the town. The general public will discover that the Civil War affected every city and town in Pennsylvania, and that the experiences of Pennsylvanians before, during, and after the conflict are valid history worthy of attention. If the values of historic sites become more equalized by the extension of historic experience into the outside world, the large number of struggling and underfunded historical institutions in Pennsylvania will directly benefit.
