This Halloween, Montrose4 Studio and the Dutchess County Historical Society have partnered to bring local history to life (or across the veil in this case) through an exploratory digital project. Through “augmented reality” spirits can be “met” throughout the village of Rhinebeck at, and acting within, certain specific sites. There are ten such sites in the Rhinebeck Village center. Drawing on historic images from DCHS, the Museum of Rhinebeck History, and the Rhinebeck Historical Society, we get a glimpse of how people used to live in Rhinebeck (and its surrounds).
Through interactive and dynamic scenes, you will see how people used to get around, some of the less known residents and the lavish Gilded Age set, earlier members of our volunteer fire department, and how people enjoyed leisure time, for example.
Augmented reality – the digital overlay of active, moving multi-media onto the immediate world around you – is experienced through a phone or tablet and is therefore very accessible. The images are real, local persons, who invite us to understand what life was like in Rhinebeck in prior generations. These are the people who would have been our friends and neighbors had we lived here in the earlier centuries! We are exploring this tool as rich form of “in-situ” storytelling as a way to engage people in local history in an innovative and creative way.
People in the area and visitors alike are encouraged to scan the QR codes at the ten sites. Also, we would love your feedback as this is a pilot and with more to come. An overview of the project and QR code locations can be found at: