I’ll start by walking you through our project — the parameters we began with, the decisions we made, what worked, and what didn’t. Next I’ll talk more about our process and the idea of “doing history in the open,” where everyone can see it. I’ll explain what this meant in the case of our project, and raise some arguments about why it’s an especially important practice for public historians to develop. Finally, I’ll bring us back to a consideration of the artifact, and it’s place in digital work.
 
So. The project.

It began with a Master’s course in Digital History. (With its own hashtag, of course.) Our professor, Shawn Graham, had arranged a partnership with the Canada Science and Technology Museum. The idea was for us to make 3D models of a number of artifacts, and then to produce an exhibit using augmented reality, or “AR,” which I’ll talk about in a bit. The museum is currently exploring how it could use some of these new technologies, and our project was to become a sort of template for the museum, an example of how it could use 3D modeling and AR. For us it was a great opportunity to work with the collection of an established heritage institution.

The artifacts the museum chose for us were from their recently acquired Air Canada collection. This is a really fantastic and diverse collection. Model planes…

…architectural maquettes…

…uniforms of captains…

…flight attendants, ground crew, and lots of other paraphernalia. The collection has a wonderful counterpart at the Space and Aviation Museum Archives. Lots of great material for anyone working on mid-century gender relations, nationalism, communications, etc.

 

The 3D models we
created were made with two different programs, 123D Catch and PhotoScan.  In fact, if you put Augment on your device, and point it at the image below on this screen, you'll be able to see some the 3d models for yourself. Try it!

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