My moments of stupidity are well documented, but my strokes of genius may have been under reported…
I was going round and round about the best use of the long abandoned playing field at Brookmeade Park in West Nashville: open space, dog park, soccer field? Native American Living History Village!? After all, it was the site of one of the largest archeological digs in Middle Tennessee.1 Artifacts were dated back to the Paleo-Indian period after the last ice-age. The Woodlands and Mississippian graves revealed an amazing amount of information about the tribes health, diet and mortality.
First of all, I don’t think the general public cares (or is even aware of) the indigenous people we all but wiped off the face of this country. All the more reason to tell the story and pay homage to them here: in a wooded area, on the edge of the capitol city of the state of Tennessee (Cherokee for Tanasi).
Practically speaking, a Living History Village would be expensive to build, and even more challenging to maintain and protect, especially at this location. Vandalism would be expected from the get-go.
Enter A/R. Augmented Reality is in insanely inexpensive compared to brick and mortar construction. In this case, the imagery is readily at hand.2 All the user needs is a smart phone, tablet or special glasses. Scan a QR Code and Bingo! Augmented Reality 3D imagery appears right before your peepers. And best of all, its bullet proof from vandals.
Check out this model in 3D and virtual reality on Sketchfab:
Brookmeade Park Greenway at Kelley’s Point by belmontguy
American Battlefield Trust Tours:
Footnotes
- https://bnabucketlist.com/2022/01/31/native-american-graves-shrugged/↩︎
- Pro Bono construction by Bob Henderson. Nominal hosting service fees.↩︎