BlackTimeMap

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  This is our kickstarter campaign to raise funding to develop a prototype app

Inspiration

Ellis Ray Williams, 95, WWII veteran of segregated black artillery unit (777th), NAACP leader, longtime teacher and school principal, dignified and honorable, kind and says it like it is. Worked for 25 years to restore the Kimball War Memorial Building in the southern coalfields of West Virginia, a structure built in 1928 by returning WWI vets to house a black American Legion post, a library, recreation and a auditorium where big bands played on weekends. The men who built this became doctors and lawyers and teachers, and became soldiers in the modern civil rights movement.

What it does

Virtual reality (VR) and new 360° technology immerses the viewer in an environment from a first-person perspective. The storytelling power of VR lies in its potential as a tool of empathy and for building bridges. VR can transport viewers to new locations and back in time. Augmented reality (AR) can provide critical context and annotation that bring new places, perspectives and time to life for the viewer. These new technologies create an important bridge between our world and a fading past.

The public’s role in BlackTimeMap

BlackTimeMap will provide tourists with the ability to navigate to physical memorials across the country. On location, either virtually or physically, visitors will be able to upload their personal stories, media, oral histories, letters and more to a virtual “wall” at the memorial site to add to the cultural and historical record.

How I built it

Will start in January when I go on sabbatical. Need to learn AR.

Challenges I ran into

Time and Money

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

10 years of research, interviewing, travel and building a database of oral history, archival images, documents and mementos of black veterans of WWI.

What I learned

Nothing is easy or quick doing this work right. You need a team of collaborators.

What's next for BlackTimeMap