SME Partner

Mr Gary Gregson, Prossimo Ventures Ltd

Academic Partner

Dr John Price, University of Roehampton

Project Title

Bringing the past into the present: creatively mobilising historical research through Augmented Reality technology

Project Description

The Watts Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice in Postman’s Park, London, documents in 54 ceramic tablets the sacrifices made by individuals who lost their lives attempting to save another. However, there is no on site facility or in-situ opportunity for visitors to discover more about these stories. This collaboration between Prossimo Ventures Ltd and Dr John Price of the University of Roehampton sought to address this issue by employing Augmented Reality and Image Recognition technology in the form of a mobile or tablet based app.

In November 2013 the Everyday Heroes app was launched for iOS and Android systems, available on iTunes and Google Play stores respectively. With the app visitors to Postman’s Park are now able to scan particular tablets unlocking a description of the incident and details of key individuals involved. Additionally, events, locations and places of interest can be viewed on an interactive map. For those who cannot make it to the park the app also functions off-site allowing the user to explore the stories remotely.

In its first year the Everyday Heroes app was downloaded over 800 times and the app’s landing page received an average of approximately 250 visitors a month. In June 2014 the app was one of three projects shortlisted for the History and Heritage award, in the national Engage Competition run by the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE). Although the collaboration did not win being shortlisted is a impressive recognition given the 230 overall entries.