THE story of Mount Gambier is about to turn a new page by combining modern technology and some of the region’s senior residents.
Mount Gambier City Council has secured a $16,900 Age Friendly grant to roll-out its Immersive Storytelling Project which will be delivered around October.
The project will mix virtual reality and the storytelling of popular South East areas including voice recordings and photographs from the Les Hill Historic Collection.
Creating local-based content as a way of promoting mental, social and emotional health for those in aged care and with disabilities, the project will open a whole new world for residents limited by mobility.
Project manager Kristi Leamey said residents who cannot access popular South East sites will be able to experience the historic locations through state of the art technology.
“The concept is a 360 degree camera which will capture the beautiful and unique locations which are difficult for the elderly and disabled to access,” Ms Leamey said.
“They will be able to experience these locations through virtual reality that will accompany an voice over of local stories.”
The Mount Gambier Library has access to historic photographs which, when accompanied by a particular app, can show visitors what buildings currently look like.
“The options and possibilities are endless, with storytelling and communication this project can preserve Mount Gambier’s history for tourists, youth and those who cannot access the areas,” Ms Leamey said.
The project will engage up to 100 aged care residents who are regular visitors to the library for their Bookwell program who will become directors in their own right by providing guidance in content creation to ensure the visual reality experiences are appealing and connect with the target audience.
“It is introducing aged care residents to popular new technology as well as sparking memorable conversations about the locations,” Ms Leamey said.
“The more we think about it in the moment, the more we realise we can achieve.”
Once the grant has processed, Ms Leamey said the library would start the project by purchasing the equipment and film, research and edit the footage.
“The staff here are excited and dedicated to get the project rolling,” she said.
“Igniting memories and getting the elderly involved is a great positive to come out of this and will benefit them greatly.”
Focusing on unique and difficult to access areas such as the Umpherston Sinkhole, Mount Schank and other caves, Ms Leamey said the project would allow the Mount Gambier community to preserve its history.
“You never know how long these areas will last so we are also preserving history as well as getting aged care facilities more involved with the community,” Ms Leamey said.
“The reason our application was so successfu is because it ticks so many boxes such as tourism, aged care, youth and many more.”
