Of turf fires, fine linen, and porter cake: Design for living history

Luigina Ciolfi and Marc McLoughlin from the University of Limerick share their experience of working on a project Reminisce at Bunratty Folk Park. The park comprises farmhouses and craftsmen cottages, a manor house, a fully reconstructed village street, and other environments, such as farmyards, gardens, and animal enclosures. Through Reminisce, participants could augment their visit to a series of buildings with several auditory digital memories narrated by fictional characters associated with the sites, the Farmer of the Land and the Woman of the House. These memories took the form of brief audio snippets that could be downloaded and listened to through a mobile application at certain locations around a building and that were identified with QR codes. Using a mobile phone, participants also had the opportunity to record in real time their impressions, comments, and reactions to what they saw and heard at each site, and to share them with other visitors.