Exploring spatial narratives and mixed reality experiences in Oakland Cemetery

The Historic Oakland Cemetery in downtown Atlanta provides a unique setting for exploring the challenges of location-based mixed-reality experience design. Our objective is to entertain and educate visitors about historically and culturally significant events related to the deceased inhabitants of the cemetery. We worked with the constraints and affordances of the physical environment of the cemetery to design an audio-based dramatic experience. The dramatic narrative is realized through voice actors who play the parts of cemetery residents and tell stories about the time periods in which they lived. The experience provides navigation and linearity through a main narrator who guides visitors to various gravesites. While at each grave, the visitor can choose from several categories of content using a handheld controller. Formative evaluations conducted with users in the cemetery indicate strengths of the current experience and suggest ideas for continued development.