History turns digital in Drouin
Drouin History Group’s digital project has been likened to gaming application Pokemon Go, with one key exception.
Instead of searching for mystical creatures, the smart phone application sends the user on a journey to seek out places of historical significance in the township of Drouin.
Supported by an Ausnet Services Energising Communities grant and application developers Drift Media, the project has taken historical stories and images from Drouin’s past into the digital world in a fun and interactive way.
Mick Green of Drift Media said participants can wander the town and learn about Drouin’s historic sites and significant trees using GPS technology on their mobile device.
“The project is like Pokemon Go, but for history,” he said.
“People find locations and read historical snippets. “It’s a challenge and it keeps score.” The game is geared to see who can score the most points, with added points for completing the questions in the smallest amount of time and travelling around the town efficiently.
To guard against people simply looking up answers in the library, some information is GPS activated and will only release when participants move past a historical site.
“There’s a one-and-a-half-hour time limit, which is a challenge but it is doable,” Mr Green said.
“The goal is to hide history in a game sense to attract young people, getting people going around the town and enjoying the town.”
Drouin History Group have been key drivers of the project, along with Friends of Drouin Trees, who also contributed material for the project, which also has the capacity to expand.
West Gippsland Region Library Corporation acting chief executive at the time of the launch, Janet Aumann, said Drouin Library formed a partnership with the groups to create a digital archive of historical artefacts and information.
“It could potentially be a tourism attraction in the future,” she said.
“As Drouin grows, it’s important to remember the historical sites.”
Printed copies of the walk are also available for those that are not digitally minded.
Keith Pretty of Drouin History Group said the digital project was the first historical guided walk for the town.
“It’s providing another plank in history of this town,” he said.