To commemorate the 75th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy, the National Museum of the US Air Force has recently unveiled an augmented reality (AR) experience entitled “D-Day: Freedom from Above,” available in the second building of the museum in Dayton, Ohio. The experience builds upon existing exhibits within the museum, creating a more engaging presentation by allowing visitors to not only look at the physical equipment, uniforms, and aircraft from the event, but also interact with complimenting virtual objects, such as 3D relics, animated maps, and photographs and videos of Sainte-Mère-Église, the first town liberated by Allies.
“D-Day: Freedom from Above” was made possible through the museum’s collaboration with the Airborne Museum of Sainte-Mere-Eglise, as well as the France-based technology company Histovery, which has created similar AR experiences for historical locations in the past. The company’s “Histopads” (Samsung tablets running Histovery’s proprietary software) are rented for $5 and are what visitors use to interact with their exhibits. The experience usually takes 40-45 minutes to complete, and has already proven itself to be a popular attraction.
“We believe it is a new way to way to connect with the younger generation that only knows about D-Day from movies, TV and games, and they are the ones that have tended to stay the longest,” said Marie Angoulvant, lead graphic artist at Histovery. “We have found that veterans have been touched by it,” she added.
The temporary experience started on May 13th and will continue through out the rest of the year, according to the Dayton daily News, but a similar AR experience at the Airborne Museum in Sainte-Mère-Église has become a permanent feature, so it is possible that the AR exhibit may be made permanent, as well.
Last week’s Experience of the Week also happened to be about using AR in a historical context: the San Antonio Airport recently installed AR Alamo exhibits, which are available travelers and the public alike.
