Fire museum leaps into digital age
FIREGROUND Museum, located in Rochdale’s former fire station building on Maclure Road, has joined the digital age with some stunning new attractions.
By means of a “virtual reality” headset and specially created software, users can now step back in time and imagine themselves actually inside the station’s former control room suite, which disappeared several years ago.
Hand triggers located around the virtual space will allow the user to switch on audio clips from the station’s past, and hear the voices of those who worked in the control room, once the station’s “nerve centre.”
A second VR programme places the user inside Manchester’s famous London Road fire station – closed since 1986 – where similar pointers trigger more voices from history.
“The whole VR experience is stunning, if a little disorientating at first” says Curator
Bob Bonner, who worked at both fire stations in his career. “Visitors who have tested the device have been bowled over by the realistic sense of being transported into the past.”
Another new feature uses “augmented reality” trigger points at various spots around the museum to open up brief archive footage clips showing the objects next to you being used back in the day.
“Downloading the Fireground “app” onto a mobile phone or other device and aiming it at the trigger image brings static objects to life in a fascinating way,” says Bob.
The whole installation has been designed by specialist digital artists, Avimmerse of Manchester, and has been part-funded with National Lottery Heritage Fund support.
The company, led by Keith Myers, has been working with Fireground for some time, using only original photographs and drawings to create the virtual control room from nothing.
It is expected that the VR features will be used on specific occasions, under controlled conditions, but the AR clips will be available at all times for museum visitors.