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Cell phone as tour guide
Jefferson Patterson Park project lets visitors listen in on exhibits
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
 Click here to enlarge this photo Photos by WILLIAM MARSHALL
A marker denotes the number to press during the cell phone tour for information explaining that part of the exhibit.
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The technology of the present has created a window to the past at Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum.
A group of Huntingtown High School students has created a cell phone tour program that allows visitors to the park to listen in on and interact with a presentation on the museum's Indian Village exhibit.
Jeff Cunningham, a teacher at Huntingtown High School, has been working on the project with his archaeology class. The students were recognized for their work on Wednesday, June 23. Afterward, they took the completed tour through the interactive Indian Village themselves as the heat index climbed to more than 100 degrees.
Cunningham's class has been working on the project since August 2009.
The automated recordings are available by dialing a number posted at the beginning of the exhibit. They explain the historic and cultural significance of different areas and objects inside the exhibits.
"These students deserve a lot of credit for this project and they deserve a lot of credit for being out here in this heat," said Bernie Fowler, former state senator and current JPPM board member.
When it came to production of the tour, "some students leapt right in," Cunningham said. He said some of the students deserve special recognition, and he handed out plaques to those who were involved extensively.
The students were charged with various tasks that professionals would normally be expected to do, such as interviewing Native Americans, doing voice-over work, editing audio for the recordings and even making the flyers that are handed out at the opening.
"The students did a tremendous amount of work; everything you see was touched by the students in one way or another and for that they should be commended," said exhibit organizer Kim Popetz.
Music recorded for the cell phone tour was provided by musician Jan Seiden, who played various types of flutes in the opening of the exhibit as well, sounding a Native American melody through the air to welcome visitors as they prepared for the speakers to begin. Despite having a bandaged leg and using crutches to get along, Seiden also braved the heat to experience the exhibit after the speakers were finished.
The cell phone tour has 10 stops at 10 different areas of the exhibit, beginning a few hundred yards outside of the village to give participants an introduction as they walk in. Once they walk through the tall wooden fenced entrance into the village, visitors will observe markers in several areas, choose one they are interested in, select that marker's number on their phone's keypad and hear a detailed explanation of the history and cultural significance of the objects marked. According to Popetz, the system is not meant to replace actual guided tours at the exhibit but to extend the amount of interaction and information visitors can receive the majority of the time when the village would not normally be attended.
An unknown donator contributed $3,000 toward this project, which, along with donations from Boeing and others, made the project possible.
The tours are offered at no cost to the visitors other than normal cell phone time usage, according to Popetz.
Hard work rewarded
Students who worked hard to complete the cell phone tour guide project were awarded with plaques. They were Nicole Kmetz, Zac Tyrell, Max Robinson, Jessica Hill and teacher, Jeff Cunningham.
