A new exhibit at the National Museum of the United States Army in Fairfax County, Virginia, hopes to immerse visitors into the American Revolution through augmented reality.
“American Revolution: The Augmented Exhibition” is now open to all visitors and takes them to the vital moments in the war from The Battle of Bunker Hill to the Siege of Yorktown.
French technology company, Histovery, produced the exhibit that allows visitors to walk around with a tablet scanning various portals that are labeled throughout.
Once scanned, the tablet takes viewers to that pivotal moment in Revolutionary history, with a 360-degree view, allowing them to hear from key figures that were present and learn details behind the soldiers’ lives. It also has a built-in “Time Portal” that shows that area in modern times.
“It’s just not about Washington and Hamilton and the notable figures we all know about,” Museum Director Paul Morando told WTOP. “It gets into the everyday soldiers who served, and that’s important because it captures the mission of this museum, which focuses on the American soldier and their experience.”
One depicted in detail is the Noble Train of Artillery, where Gen. Henry Knox and teams of soldiers faced a logistical challenge of moving heavy cannon from Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York all the way to Boston in the winter of 1775-76.
“I think it’s a story that a lot of people don’t know about,” Morando said. “Coming to experience that, they’ll come away with learning more about the Revolutionary War and about the soldiers involved.”
While the exhibit looks at the triumphs of the Continental Army at Boston and Trenton, it also allows visitors to plunge into the defeats and blunders made during the war.
“You start with the Battle of Bunker Hill. It was a defeat, although significant for the soldiers at that time, because it proved to the British that we were ready to fight and we were going to be a tough opponent,” Morando said. “And then you go to the Battle of Long Island, where the entire army could have been lost and, in fact, the Revolution could have been lost.”
Morando shared more about Gen. George Washington at the Battle of New York, “He was outmanned, outmaneuvered, and just basically, out ‘generaled’. So, instead of staying and fighting, knowing that he would lose, he figured out a way to escape.”
Morando said these immersive technology exhibits pair well with the artifact-driven exhibits at the museum.
“It gives visitors another way to learn about the Revolutionary War in an interactive and fun way, but it’s also extremely educational. Lot of research content development was put into this experience,” Morando said.
The exhibit, which opened last weekend, now pairs with the museum’s other temporary exhibit, “Call to Arms: The Soldier and the Revolutionary War,” which features stunning artifacts including a leopard-skinned saddle from a New Hampshire officer, a French cannon from the Siege of Yorktown as well as the sword surrendered by British Gen. Charles Cornwallis — something that has never before been displayed in the U.S.
“It’s a once in a lifetime, you know, artifact that probably won’t be on display in the United States ever again,” Morando said.
Wednesday is the last day to see Cornwallis’ sword.
“American Revolution: The Augmented Exhibition” is free with admission to the museum and runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is closed on Mondays.
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