New digital technologies (such as interactive internet applications, video-enabled mobile phones and iPods) are changing the way local, national and global histories are created and presented for public education and enjoyment. Tours of cities, monuments and landscapes are now beginning to be enhanced by interpretive materials downloaded to widely-owned mobile devices; including archival photographs, maps, oral history recordings and dramatic reconstructions, alongside conventional text narratives. In this way, the narration of places through the telling of informative stories and histories is undergoing a transformation and raising new historiographical and curatorial questions.
Our research project is motivated by the need for more holistic understanding and practice in the application of digital technology to the interpretation of public heritage and urban contexts. These new developments in digital history-making have implications for many stakeholders, including historians, curators, communities with particular histories, technology developers, content developers, educational institutions, telecommunication companies, local governments, and tourism bodies.
This pilot project is developed through consultation with the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne and the City of Melbourne, and Acoustiguide (a world leader in museum guide technology and content). Further, the project brings together the expertise of a cross-disciplinary team of five senior academics from three Faculties in the The University of Melbourne:
- Dr Hannah Lewi and Associate Professor Bharat Dave (Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning), with expertise in architectural heritage and digital representation;
- Professor Kate Darian-Smith (The Australian Centre, School of Historical Studies, Faculty of Arts) with expertise in public history, cultural heritage and museum studies;
- Dr Wally Smith and Dr Jon Pearce (The Department of Information Systems, Faculty of Science) with expertise in the design and evaluation of interactive digital technology.
