ClarkCountyBlog covers the NEH grant news

Even while the details still are coming in from the National Endowment for the Humanities, local blogger Jeff Bunch and his ClarkCountyBlog already have jumped on this story and published a piece on the NEH Grant news for the FVM project. Very impressive timeliness, Jeff.  Not only a great chance for us to spread the word, also a clear example of how social media connections can lead to quick news items of community importance.

National Endowment for the Humanities $50,000 grant

More details will be coming on this soon, but I wanted to post it here first: The Fort Vancouver Mobile project recently was notified that it is one of the very few digital humanities projects in the country during this granting cycle to receive a Digital Start-Up Grant of $50,000.

More publicity for the FVM project

Brady Berkenmeier and I talked for several minutes about the FVM project on camera as part of a live stream at the WSU Vancouver Research Showcase, via VancouverArtsLive.com. At this point, it does not appear that the footage was captured for on-demand viewing, but if that changes, I'll post here.

R.A Long High School students prepping for a FVM demo

Joan Enders, a teacher-librarian at Robert A. Long High School in Longview, visited the fort this week and took a FVM demo in preparation for the bus loads of students coming to the national historic site in early May, many of whom want to give the FVM app a whirl. We still will be about six weeks away from the public launch, but the nearly completed Android version of the app provoked Enders to remark to her husband that they needed to upgrade to smartphones, and that she was really excited to get the students to have this experience. Now, we're just working out the logistical issues of getting the beta app in their hands.

More FVM in the news

Brady Berkenmeier continues to be a great ambassador for the Fort Vancouver Mobile project, through his direct work but also in his efforts to spread the word. Brady is the coda of today's Columbian story on the WSU Vancouver Research Showcase, which also features a photograph of FVM web developer Nick Hill in the background of the lead photograph.

First draft of Kane animation

As we talked as a group last month about the details and imagery of the Fort Vancouver Mobile module we wanted to produce on Paul Kane and his "wanderings" through the fort area, research assistant Brady Berkenmeier started to brainstorm how the story might look as an animation. That really caught the interest of everyone in the room, and Berkenmeier went to work. Here is his draft (sound is rough, and just for placement purposes):

 

What do you think of this as a production direction (we're not so much interested, at this point, in an artistic critique of the rough cut)?

Dr. Robert McCoy took a FVM tour recently

Dr. Robert McCoy, an associate professor of history at Washington State University, visited the Fort Vancouver Mobile display at the Research Showcase in Pullman last month and was interested to learn more. So he made a point of getting a FVM tour when he drove through Vancouver last week. McCoy, a public historian, specializes in memory and the creation of historical narratives. We had a great conversation about the project, and we plan to talk more in the coming months about potential collaboration possibilities.

New partnership with XID Services

XID Services Inc. has joined our development team to collaborate on a free plant identification system at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site to be delivered through the Fort Vancouver Mobile app. 
In short, this company, led by Dr. Richard Old of Pullman, Wash., will provide a rich database of all of the plants on site, and a touch-based plant identification interface. Dr. Old has been the weed identification specialist for Cooperative Extension Service at Washington State University since 1976. The rest of the FVM team will help to parse the vast amounts of XID data down to this specific site and customize this part of the app to meet the needs of the visitors to the fort. Old's system allows customization of text and images, which gives the potential for site-based imagery and detailed information about the plants (from weeds to trees) and their historical connections to the site. Welcome to the team, Richard!

FVM on Feet on the Street

Research assistant Brady Berkenmeier and the Fort Vancouver Mobile project were featured recently on the KLTV Longview Public Access program Feet on the Street:



Thanks for spreading the word, Brady!

R.A. Long High School planning a Fort Vancouver Mobile field trip

We still are trying to work out the logistics, but it looks like a group of more than 100 students from R.A. Long High School in Longview, Wash., will be coming to the fort on May 3 with the intention of trying out the Fort Vancouver Mobile app. The app still will be in the last stages of beta testing at that point (with a broad release set to coincide with the Brigade Encampment in mid-June), but we are excited about the idea of getting a group of this size to all experiment with the app at once, and to see how it functions under those conditions.

WSU Pullman Research Showcase / WSU Vancouver Research Showcase

The Fort Vancouver Mobile project will be shared with the greater academic community at two Washington State University research showcases in the coming weeks. 

The first, at WSU Pullman on March 25, will be part of a larger presentation by the Creative Media and Digital Culture program. This is going to be an impressive display of all sorts of projects, no doubt (the plans for the multi-tiered video wall are amazing), including examples by students and faculty throughout the program.


The Fort Vancouver Mobile project also will be on display on its home court of WSU Vancouver during the school's annual research showcase on April 14.

The Canon XF100 HD it is ...

After many weeks of research and testing, and much discussion, Forrest Burger and Troy Wayrynen came to a consensus and recommended that the Fort Vancouver Mobile project purchase the Canon XF100 for its next phase of development. 


This was a tough decision, with three great cameras to choose from (and many more that were eliminated during earlier discussions). 


The final two contenders were the Panasonic GH2 (a digital SLR) and the Canon XF100. Forrest and Troy spent a lot of time on this project, and we are very thankful for that effort. ... Forrest even produced a short video clip to compare the final two:



FVM Camera Tests from Forrest Burger on Vimeo.



As you can see, the GH2 can give a much greater focus to the primary subject in the video, blurring out the background much better than the Canon. It even arguably presents a better overall picture, although the Canon was not calibrated in as much depth as the GH2 before testing, making the comparison potentially unfair. 


The Canon is more of a self-contained unit, though, which better fits the needs of this project. For one, that means much less accessories to buy (and almost as importantly, to keep track of), and out of the case, this camera would be easier for either videographer to pick up and just start using, without a lot of trying to remember what part did what. While the GH2 and Digital SLRs in general provide a distinct film look that is very alluring, they also require different lenses, and separate sound equipment, and more post-production work that makes shooting in two-person teams cumbersome and adds significant time and complexity to the editing process. 


With the project's budget for the camera at $5,000, paid for by a Clark County Historical Promotion Grant, this camera was in-between the lower-end equipment, $2,500 and less, and the higher-end equipment, $7,500 and up, which is somewhat of an awkward spot to be with commercial quality aspirations. This camera's cost, $3,000, though, allows us to buy other accessories that will improve the quality, including filters and a Canon WD-H58w 0.8x Wide Converter Lens, without sacrificing much in terms of end product. We also are purchasing a high-quality tripod, in the range of $1,200, and a separate sound recorder, which should help dramatically improve the overall quality of our mobile media. 


In the end, after all of the examination and evaluation, Forrest and Troy said, the Canon XF100 seemed a clear choice for this project. So that is the direction we will go. ... I'll post some comparison footage, when we get the camera for good and start using it with this project. 

An analog model for this project and beyond

The Fort Vancouver Mobile project is breaking ground in many ways related to interactive and immersive storytelling with mobile devices, but my hope is to keep pushing our thinking into even broader realms. I ran across this program at Barnard College, called Reacting to the Past games, in which users play different roles and respond in uniquely personal ways to a historic moment. I have participated in similar events, such as the Model United Nations program. And I think the next big leap for us to make in this field of mobile storytelling is to launch users into life-like roles within a nonfiction historical context. That will take a lot more work, of course, and much more grant money to pull off professionally. But that is the vision I'm following.

Interactive response coding completed

Just heard from Android developer Joe that the coding for the call and response parts of the FVM app is complete, and he has set up a spartan web page to track how that is working.
Eventually, we plan to have a beautiful companion site, or part of a site, to showcase such responses in a public viewing space.
So, for example, when a user is asked in the app what archaeology field school members found in the dig pit, a common response during beta testing has been: "A dinosaur bone" (hint: a dinosaur bone was not found there). That response now will flow into a feed of other responses by users, such as "a cannon" and "a mast," (other things that also were not found there; if you want to know what was, try out the app by becoming a beta tester). These responses, plus user-generated images and videos from other interactive portions of the app, will help to become ways that users can expand their FVM experience outside of the fort grounds and share it with others.

Choosing the right camera for this kind of mobile work

Now that we have the experience of producing several videos (and still images) for the Fort Vancouver Mobile project, and another Historical Promotion Grant from the Clark County Commissioners, the time is right to buy a camera and accessories for our future research. We have used borrowed equipment to date, and we think that dedicated equipment is better long-term for the videographers involved and for the sustainability of the project. A video camera is next on our list.   
Tom Turner, of T.Videography, generously consulted on the audio equipment purchases we made last year, and a key consideration in this next purchase is that the new camera works well with all of the various microphones, recording accessories and the mixer that we already have.

Videographers Troy Wayrynen and Forrest Burger have volunteered to research the various cameras within our budget ($5,000, plus $2,000 for accessories) and have narrowed the field to these contenders:

* Canon XF100

http://vimeo.com/16963810

http://vimeo.com/16962943
http://vimeo.com/16960864
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAlas2rBI5A

Comments from Forrest:
"This camera is interesting, for sure.  Probably the nicest thing about it is the codec it records in...50mb sec, 4.2.2. color space.  My EX1 records in 4.2.0 and do the DSLR's.  That means not quite as much color rendition. That mainly comes into play during green screen work.  So, even though the XF100 only has one chip, the colors should be pretty good."


* Lumix GH2

From Forrest:
"I know Troy was pretty high on the (Panasonic) AF100 early on and so was I.  I continue to be since my GH2 has a very similar chip in it.  I think that could be a nice fit for the types of things we're talking about doing.  XLR inputs, focus assist, ND filters, the ability to put really long telephoto lenses on it...all the things you want out of an affordable cinema style camcorder.  But, not necessarily a run and gun type camera that the (Canon) XF100 would be. The XF100 would be more user friendly to a wider user base. ... the (Panasonic) AF100 would produce superior results.  The (Lumix) GH2 produces as nice a picture as the AF100, but with certain workarounds. ...  I continue to be blown away by this little camera, even with its shortcomings (no XLR inputs)."
And ...
"As much as I like the ergonomics of the (Canon) 60D, I have stopped using it for critical shooting and am now working exclusively with the GH2 for paid gigs. The (Canon) 5DMKII and 7D will also experience the same moire issues as the 60D. I use my Sony EX1 when I need a "real" video camera. The 5DMII will most likely be the king in low light due to its full frame sensor, but it can be a bear to focus.  I did an interview yesterday with the (Lumix) GH2, and although my depth of field was wider than it would have been with the 5DMII, the interviewee stayed in focus. That's a big deal when you're working on limited budgets with bare bones crews. The XF100 may fit the bill for our camera, but the low light part is something I believe we need to look very closely at. Also, does it have a "video" look to it or a more "film" look?  The DSLRs definitely have a "film" look about them that I, and many others, love."

* Nikon D7000 DSLR

From Forrest:
"Things to consider with Canon and (potentially) Nikon...moire, it can really bite you.  You don't see it when you're shooting but, alas, it can pop up in the editing suite to your dismay and disappointment.  You have to be very careful with what people wear, shooting brick walls, wood siding concrete. Here is a quick test I did this morning with my 60D and GH2. ... In the case of re-purposing content for bigger screens this one issue alone can be very important.  The moire is even more dramatic when you watch the video full screen. ... "
60D vs GH2 moire test http://vimeo.com/20565849

"I'm fairly confident the XF100 will not experience quite as much moire as the Canon DSLR's, but keep in mind, all camcorders/DSLR's will experience some level of moire.  I don't have access to a D7000, but here are a couple of links from some tests I found in a quick search."

D7000http://www.eoshd.com/content/348
D7000 vs. Canon T2i Moire Test (T2i and 7D share same chip)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9urLoELTjM  

As a final note, Forrest added: "For ALL of these cameras we will need lights. Lighting is king in video (and stills), and as much as the DLSRs require less light input, they still need some help to get great images. Without good lighting you risk getting muddy images that even intense color correction cannot fully rectify."
That is something to keep in mind for future grant proposals. Next step in the camera decision, test each contender, in the most difficult lighting conditions at Fort Vancouver: The Blacksmith's Shop. Will post an update in the coming weeks.

Porting to the iPhone has begun ...

The free Fort Vancouver Mobile app is being built in Android's Java-based programming language, but with the funding provided by the Clark County Commissioners recently, through a Historical Promotion Grant, we also have begun porting the app into Apple's Objective C, for an iPhone/iPad version (Nick Hill has joined the team for this part of the production). Android and Apple mobile devices are the two leaders in the field right now in the United States. We expect to have both versions available to the public by the first special event of the tourist season, the Brigade Encampment.

Update on FVM story development and release plans

A core group of Fort Vancouver Mobile developers met recently and put together production plans for the next few months, including a staggered release of content and a consolidated launch party to coincide with the annual Brigade Encampment at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site on June 18, 2011.

The Android module related to William Kaulehelehe and the influence of Hawaiians on the cultural development of the Pacific Northwest is nearly complete. It has been through extensive beta testing already and is nearing the stage when it will be converted into an iPhone version as well.

The Village Opening module, an expositional exploration of the site, aimed at newcomers, has a developed concept and is partially constructed.

The module about the lives of women in The Village and the one that recounts Paul Kane's Wanderings also are nearing production phases.

In addition, we are working on getting more production equipment, including a camera and hard storage cases, as part of the 2011 Historical Promotion Grant funded by the Clark County Commissioners.

What was the York Factory Express like?

The York Factory Express route, courtesy of Wikipedia Commons

A student in CMDC 354.02 at WSU Vancouver, Marcia First, created this Google Earth tour, showing what travel was like between England and the Pacific Northwest in the mid-1800s.

York Factory Express tour 

As far as I know, Google Earth doesn't allow this sort of tour to be embedded in blogs (please let me know otherwise). So to watch the tour, you will need to download the .kmz file and play it in the Google Earth system.
For those unfamiliar with "The Express," here's the first paragraph from the Wikipedia entry on it:
"The York Factory Express, usually called "the Express" and also called the Columbia Express and the Communication, was a brigade operated by Hudson's Bay Company in the early 19th century connecting York Factory and Fort Vancouver. It was named "express" because it was not used only to transport furs and supplies but also to quickly move departmental reports and letters. It was the main overland connection between the Columbia Department and the Hudson's Bay Company's headquarters at York Factory. Bulk cargo to and from the Columbia Department was shipped by sea. The express brigade was known as the York Factory Express on its eastbound journey in the spring, and as the Columbia Express or Autumn Express on its westbound journey in the fall. The same route was used in both cases. Its length was about 4,200 kilometres (2,600 mi). To expedite messages the express messengers would often speed ahead of the main bodies carrying supplies and furs."


And a link to the full entry.

Paul Kane's wanderings

A group of five students in CMDC 354.02 (Digital Storytelling) at Washington State University Vancouver -- Brady Berkenmeier, Lorraine Botros, Cathy Manwell, Cassie Watson and Linda Zandi -- have been working on a new Fort Vancouver Mobile module, based on artist Paul Kane's "Wanderings," that we will be trying to develop into a real working piece during the next couple of months. Here is a Flash animation presentation, created by Berkenmeier, that the students presented on the project, minus the extensive verbal accompaniment. Yet the images show a lot about the inventive ideas this group has for the project. Will post more as this develops.

Historical Promotion Grant success!

The 2011 Historical Promotion Grants, administered by the Clark County Commissioners, have been awarded, and the Fort Vancouver Mobile project once again was a major recipient; this time for: $19,912.
That money will be used to build much more mobile content at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. Updates will be posted here as the plans develop. Thank you again Clark County Commissioners (and the Historical Promotion Grant committee)!

Chinuk Wawa in the Village

WSU Vancouver student Lorraine Botros recently attended a weekly discussion group in Portland, Ore., in which people practice and discuss Chinuk Wawa. Wawa is the jargon that was spoken around Fort Vancouver during the mid-1800s, allowing the more than 35 different ethnic groups living in that village just outside the fort's stockade to communicate. The local discussion group is led by Wawa language expert Evan Gardner. Botros and her CMDC 354.02 team plan to incorporate Wawa into their Fort Vancouver Mobile module under construction.

More information on Chinuk Wawa from the Oregon Encyclopedia

Here are some of the initial pilot clips that Botros, a student in the Creative Media and Digital Culture program's Digital Storytelling class this semester, shared (Thanks, Lorraine!):
House1
House edited
Chluch

And here are some other notes Lorraine shared:

Chinuk Wawa (Chinook Jargon) resources:
From Lorraine: "Evan Gardner provided me with resources to record the Chinuk Wawa phrases. He is willing to work with people to get a more complete recording in the future."
Gardner is the creator of the language game, "Where are your keys?"


A Brief Introduction to the "Where Are Your Keys?" Fluency Game from Willem Larsen on Vimeo.
He can be reached through Whereareyourkeys.org in the Contact Us section.

Another resource:
Eric Bernado, 'I am a Member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde from the Watlala Band of the Cascades of the Chinook peoples. I have a Masters in Education from the University of Oregon and am a semi-fluent speaker of Chinuk Wawa and will be teaching a community language class at Portland Community College starting in January (2011).' Learn Chinook Jargon blog.

More public domain resources for period music

Music from the Romantic period in the public domain, via MusOpen.org:

List

And Civil War big band music from the Library of Congress:

List

Fort Vancouver Mobile - A video overview

Aaron May over the past few weeks has created the video overview of the Fort Vancouver Mobile project that now adorns the top of this site. May, a FVM intern, is a talented senior in Washington State University Vancouver's Creative Media and Digital Culture program, and he will screen the final cut of this video for the CMDC Digital Storytelling class on Dec. 8.
May's mission has been to create a video to help people to understand and visualize the project, even from afar. The distinctions of mobile storytelling are difficult to describe, and, it turns out, tough to show, too. But May's vision, from my viewpoint, makes the material accessible and clear and also shows how much fun a mobile-historical experience can be. Thanks, again, Aaron!
Please let us know what you think about this video, and what questions you still have about the project. We want to answer them, and we want the development of Fort Vancouver Mobile to include input from users or potential users at all levels of creation.

Great news from iDMAa

The Fort Vancouver Mobile project was part of the WSU Vancouver display given honorable mention at the annual International Digital Media Arts Association conference earlier this month in Vancouver, B.C. Typically, iDMAa only gives one award, first place, but the judges were so impressed by the sampling from the Creative Media and Digital Culture program at WSUV, including the FVM project, that they created the honorable mention award as a way to recognize the effort. Thanks again to FVM intern Aaron May for taking the project out into the larger world and helping to bring back the glory.

Public domain music from 1800 to 1860

Found this fabulous reference list of public domain music roughly from the Fort Vancouver period:

http://www.pdmusic.org/1800s.html

While the versions here aren't always great, they do give a sense of what the song sounds like, and enough reference information to find other public domain versions.

Beta testers needed

More in-depth research on the Fort Vancouver Mobile project is planned in the next two weeks. We're looking for a few additional beta testers. If you are interested in history and open-minded about technology, and want to help, please send your contact information to: FortVancouverMobile@gmail.com, with the subject line Beta Tester. Thanks!

Fort Vancouver Mobile video intro

FVM intern Aaron May, from Washington State University Vancouver's Creative Media and Digital Culture program, has spent the past couple of weeks working on a video that helps to explain the project and illustrate it, especially for people not familiar with the fort and what we are doing.

In addition, he is taking a digital display, plus a paper handout, to the iDMAa Conference this weekend in Vancouver, B.C. (see earlier post).

This video will be part of that display, along with other strong projects representing the CMDC program. In the near future, I will get the piece posted in a more permanent and prominent spot on this page.

Thanks, Aaron! And for everyone who helped with this part of the project, including lead actor Brady Berkenmeier, the CMDC 354.02 Digital Storytelling class (providing feedback and serving as extras in the footage), Forrest Burger of RiverBend Productions (providing fort footage from The Village opening), Chief Ranger Greg Shine (an extra in the film and major supporter of the project) and Dr. Dene Grigar, who made May's internship possible.

Example of one of our plotted GPS field maps

One key step in creating a high-quality mobile interactive experience (or airrative, as I have started to call this form, because the immersive story exists entirely in the air) is to walk the physical site, really get to know it and then design a highly detailed, plotted and annotated site map, with GPS coordinates identified for each spot that the creative team might want to use. That way, say, the team wants to embed a video that relates to the Old River Road entrance at this site. It can get out this map, find that spot is identified as Node 24, then look up the accompanying annotations of coordinates and details about what already is being delivered there as well as nearby, for compositional coherence.

Animated logo - mobile version

Here is the latest version of the FVM logo and opening animation of the Fort Vancouver Mobile app, in mp4 format. Still looking for a better compression format that works with Android devices and looks good (not really impressed with the playback quality here). Suggestions? ...


FVM logo animation in mp4 from Brett Oppegaard on Vimeo.

Kanaka Twitta-graph (Twitter and telegraph inspired communication)

Here is the initial exchange at the fort, related to William Kaulehelehe's hiring. What do you think of how this turned out?