The National Mall Returns to 1837 as TimeLooper Partners with National Park Service and Trust for the National Mall to Activate the Washington Canal in Augmented Reality
TimeLooper, the market leader in providing immersive AR and VR historical journeys, the National Park Service and the Trust for The National Mall announce the launch of an immersive re-creation of a canal view of Washington, D.C. as the city would have appeared in 1837 from the Lockkeeper's House on the National Mall.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 11, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- TimeLooper, the market leader in providing immersive AR and VR historical journeys, the National Park Service (NPS) and the Trust for The National Mall announce the launch of an immersive re-creation of a canal view of Washington, D.C. in 1837 from the Lockkeeper's House. An augmented reality window installed in the historic structure lets onlookers view Washington, D.C., the Washington Canal and the lock as it would have appeared in the 1837. For comparison there is an actual window to see present day Washington, D.C. located next to the augmented reality window, providing a fascinating historical contrast to viewers. This immersive experience is funded by America's National Parks, an NPS cooperating association that promotes support of national parks, and is free for visitors.
"The newly restored Lockkeeper's House is the perfect place to tell the stories of Washington's early history, and the TimeLooper app provides an innovative approach to bring those stories to life," said Alyssa Baltrus, acting chief of interpretation and education for the National Park Service's National Mall and Memorial Parks. "We appreciate TimeLooper, The Trust for the National Mall, and America's National Parks for providing our visitors this opportunity to travel back in time and learn about those who helped build the nation's capital."
Looking into the augmented reality installment, a visitor will see lush green grass before the Washington canal and the White House in the distance. As the scene progresses, the lockkeeper opens the canal lock, allowing a canal boat to lower and advance downstream.
The Lockkeeper's House is located at the corner of 17th Street NW and Constitution Avenue NW. It was built in 1837 for the lockkeeper who oversaw the Washington Canal. It is the oldest structure at the National Mall.
"By preserving the Lockkeeper's House, we have chosen to save a critical part of our shared history and deliver a world-class experience on the National Mall," said Catherine Townsend, President & CEO of the Trust for the National Mall. "We're currently planning for a permanent exhibit in the House, and are grateful to TimeLooper and America's National Parks for bringing this new, immersive feature to the National Mall as a sneak peek of what's to come."
This experience, along with others that TimeLooper has collaborated with the National Park Service, is available to users at no cost in the TimeLooper app on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
"We collaborated with the National Mall team using a variety of materials to recreate 1830s Washington, including, map layouts of Washington, D.C. at the time, detailed sketches, images of clothing during this time period, sketches of the type of boat used with ratios to create a historically accurate world for visitors to immerse themselves in while visiting the Lockkeeper's House, " said Andrew Feinberg, Co-Founder of Time Looper.
SOURCE TimeLooper
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