Seattle Company Using New Technologies To Celebrate The Past, Tell The Story of the Central District
A Seattle company is using new technologies to help people around the city remember the past. Revere XR is showcasing the power of Virtual Reality by creating immersive storytelling experiences based on the history of communities around Seattle. They recently hosted an event at the Douglass-Truth Library celebrating Seattle’s Black history in partnership with the Black Heritage Society of Washington State. Our crew was there to see the new technology in action and speak with some of those who were moved by the experience.
“A lot has changed in this neighborhood, and in that process a lot has been lost,” Revere XR Founder Yolanda Barton said. “It’s our job to make sure that we preserve it - not just for us but for future generations.”
The virtual experience aims to recreate the Central District as it was, and blend it with how it currently is.
“This is a really exciting partnership,” Black Heritage Society of Washington State President Stephanie Johnson-Toliver said. “To bring on MOHAI, Seattle Public Libraries, Africatown - it’s a really beautiful merge of community to celebrate our history.”
For Barton, creating experiences like this is critical to her mission of sharing diverse voices and creating opportunities for stories to be told in new and thought-provoking ways.
“Not only does RVR provide a vehicle for experiencing immersive storytelling, but it also presents an opportunity for diverse & disenfranchised voices to own their stories in a new way and rewrite their history so their stories aren't mischaracterized,” Barton said.
Community member Edna Daigri felt that technology like this can help bridge the gap between new and old generations.
“Everything moves so fast now, it sometimes feels like elders are forgotten,” Daigri said. “Something like this could change that.
This segment originally aired on Back2Besa. Make sure to tune in every Saturday at 10:30 pm on FOX 13 and Sunday at 10 am on FOX 13+ for more great stories.
