BALDWIN COUNTY, Ga. — The home of famed Georgia College & State University alumna Flannery O’Connor has a new way for visitors to relive the past thanks to a big technological upgrade.
Using augmented reality, GCSU is allowing visitors to be able to enter the home i the popular Southern writer and take an interactive, self-guided tour of the grounds at Andalusia, her former home.
Visitors can scan a QR code inside of the Andalusia Interpretive Center and have a trip to the past with real-time images and facts about the historic space and farmstead at the swipe of screen by using their smartphones.
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The university said this will enhance the locations across the property, allowing visitors “a glance into the past” with a more in-depth tour of the location.
“This new feature is on the cutting edge of delivery methods for interpretation in this area,” said Matt Davis, director of Historic Museums at Georgia College. “There’s no need to download an app. We’ve removed as many barriers as possible. Technology without barriers is where we want to be.”
For visitors who don’t have smartphones, there are iPads available for use on the tours.
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The AR technology used thanks to the interactive tour includes 3D images, panoramic views, videos with more information about different places on the property and sound effects.
“As visitors walk where the Nail House once stood, they get a three-dimensional glimpse of the original structure and hear sounds of animals once housed in the pens and runs beside it,” GCSU described as an example.
For visitors still hungry for more information, they can continue their Andalusia experience from home. GCSU said they’ll get a chance to learn more about the grounds and O’Connor’s home through their phones.
In addition to the self-guided tours, docent-led tours are still available through O’Connor’s home as well, which GCSU said was a way to give students experiential learning opportunities.
“This value-added upgrade, funded by donors, is a remarkable way for guests to interact with Andalusia,” Davis said. “We hope everyone comes to experience Andalusia in 3D.”
To bring Andalusia to life with AR, the university partnered with BES Studios and ARtGlass to build the new tour.
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