Children's Media Project and teaching artist Matthew Slaats - with the help of several young people in the community and local scholars and experts – have created an Augmented Reality Game to be played in the waterfront area of Poughkeepsie. In the Spring and Summer of 2009, students worked with CMP staff, teaching artist Matthew Slaats, and consultants from local colleges and organizations to develop their research, storytelling, and media productions skills while working towards the creation of this interactive game.
Focused around humanities issues, Walking History explores historic events, oral histories, urban landscapes, environmental and ecological issues, culture, and social changes that have affected Poughkeepsie throughout its history. This game uses Apple’s GPS-enabled iPhone, digital technology, images, narrative, sound and video to facilitate an exploration of the complex layers that make up Poughkeepsie.
Players of Walking History are charged with exploring the city, with the help of some charming characters, such as buildings, animals, statues, community members, and time travelers from Poughkeepsie’s past and future who offer clues, information, valuable lessons, and directions that lead the gamer to various sites in the Poughkeepsie waterfront area. In the words of Rebecca Edwards, Eloise Ellery Professor of History at Vassar College, Walking History has the potential "to increase awareness of Poughkeepsie's incredibly diverse and exciting local history."
Once complete, the Walking History units will be housed at the Mid-Hudson Children's Museum in Poughkeepsie and available for public use.
Story and characters developed by the following youth producers:
Anthony Bartolotta, Felipe Benitez, Mia Chin, Laurence Featherston, John Madalengoitia, Hajjel Murphy, Jack Palmiotti, Jade Palmiotti, Dallas Wynn, Gwen Hempstead, Kyon Johnson, Isidro Linton, and Ronald Wynn.
Thank you to all the scholars and staff that worked on this project:
Matthew Slaats, Creative Director of Walking History; Nicole Fenichel-Hewitt, CMP’s Executive Director; Harvey Flad, Emeritus Professor of Geology at Vassar College; Thomas Mounkhall, Adjunct Professor of Secondary Education at SUNY New Paltz; Meg Stewart, Vassar College’s Geographic Information System Academic Computing Consultant; Sacha Spector, Scenic Hudson; Dave Conover, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater; Ken Moody, Mid-Hudson Antislavery History Project; Fred Schaeffer, Walkway Over the Hudson; Josh Harmon, Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Vassar College; Franc Palaia, local artist; Maureen Towey, Director and Teaching Artist, The Powerhouse Apprentice Training Program; Ed Cheetham, Director of Production, Powerhouse Apprentice Training Program; Leonard Nevarez, Director of the Urban Studies Program at Vassar College; Rebecca Edwards, Professor of History, Vassar College; Lynn Lucas, Historian, the Adriance Memorial Library; Emily Bennison, Media Educator & Director of Media Education at CMP; Ryan Sullivan, Media Educator and Production House Manager at CMP; Tim Sutton, Media Educator and DROP TV Director at CMP; Jared Saiz de la Mora, Game Engineer and Programmer; Nile Clarke, Media Educator at CMP; Mary Ellen Iatropoulos, Media Educator at CMP; Zach Russo, photographer and CMP Work Study Student; Michael Konnie Chameides, animator.
Thank you to those that provided their voice, image, or media for Walking History:
Keane Curtis, Maria Iglesias, Shaqueena Coons, Lisa DiMarzo, Dave Conover, Tim Sutton, Amina Kearney, Zach Russo, Mia Chin, Jade Palmiotti, Justin Palmiotti, Jack Palmiotti, Annick Marewski-Mann, Ryan Sullivan, Sharief Smart, Lester Brathwaite, Jared Saiz de la Mora, Amanda Brew, Brendan Chase, Omar Sow, and Michael Asbill.
Special Thanks:
Ed Glisson and the staff of the Mid-Hudson Children’s Museum
Funding for Walking History provided by:
New York Council for the Humanities; The Jane W. Nuhn Charitable Trust; Hudson River Foundation; Vassar College’s Good Neighbors Partnerships; Dyson Foundation; Dutchess County Arts Council, public funds through the New York State Council on the Arts; and the Dutchess County Youth Bureau, where youth asset opportunities build healthy, caring, responsible young adults.
