Did you know that the National Museum of Singapore once displayed a moon rock collected by astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin in 1970? Or that the POW steps at the beautiful Singapore Botanic Gardens leading into the iconic Plant House were built by prisoners of war during World War II?
The past can be beautiful, but only with understanding.
Samsung launches its “Culture Explorer” mobile application in the hopes of connecting communities and driving appreciation for Singapore’s heritage landmarks. Samsung uses augmented reality technology to enhance appreciation for culture and heritage landmarks in Singapore.
The “Culture Explorer” is appealing to both children and adult alike. Brilliant for its educational value, the “Culture Explorer” enables users to appreciate the rich history of Singapore, and generate greater appreciation of Singapore’s culture and heritage. Gone are the days when history was learnt only through textbooks; say hello to the modern day hands-on application, which is bound to pique interest among the young generation with the use of augmented reality.
The “Culture Explorer” app has made its way to primary schools in Singapore, where students will be each given a “Culture Explorer” kit containing activity sheets and tokens featuring Singapore landmarks to facilitate the learning process. Best of all, prizes such as “five stones” and pick-up sticks will be given upon completion of the activity sheets.
For the tech-savvy, you will be pleased to play around with this new “Culture Explorer” app. The “Culture Explorer” app provides you with a live image and directions to the nearest heritage site.
To use the “Culture Explorer”, you will have to enable your Location settings. Upon starting Augmented Reality, you will be guided around by bubbles and arrows which are rather fun to play with, especially for novices like me.
At each historical site, photographs and fun facts will be accessible with just a tap of your finger.
With the “Culture Explorer” app users can now travel back in time and explore the National Museum of Singapore, the Singapore Botanic Gardens, Victoria Theatre and Victoria Concert Hall. One can even see how these landmarks looked like in the days of yore.
Here comes the most exciting part of the “Culture Explorer” app – you can actually take a picture of yourself and upload it onto the app. Take a selfie in history and share it with your friends!
In this age of technology, the best way to link the past and present would be through the use of augmented reality, where history is readily accessible at the tip of your fingers. Samsung has partnered with the National Heritage Board, National Parks Board and Singapore National Commission for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in bringing the “Culture Explorer” to life.
“Culture Explorer” is compatible with all Android smartphones and tablets, and can be downloaded for free from the Google Play Store and Galaxy Apps.
