Professor’s augmented reality project will allow users to be ‘historians’

In partnership with the Levine Museum of the New South, Assistant Professor of Urban Design Ming-Chun Lee and UNC Charlotte students will help Charlotte residents discover the stories behind the rise and fall of Eastland Mall and its surrounding neighborhood at an event on Saturday, Dec. 8.

The event, “Being a Historian for a Day,” will take place at Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, Hickory Grove Branch, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

This is the second community engagement event that Lee has conducted since he was named a Niantic/Knight Fellow in August by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and Niantic Inc., maker of the popular Pokémon GO game. The fellowship builds on Lee’s research in using augmented and virtual reality technology to help people think about urban design and its impact on their lives.

With the support of two graduate students in the College of Computing and Informatics, Lee has developed augmented reality (AR) technology that will allow users to view virtual images of historical events and social and economic data in the Eastland Mall area. That technology will enhance the displays created by the Levine Museum and a set of maps created by students in Lee’s GIS/Urban Mapping class. Event attendees also can head out of the library to play Pokémon GO and learn more about the history of the neighborhood through the game.