Using Drones to Enhance a Tourists Map of Green-Wood Cemetery

150 years before the largest tourist traps spots in New York City were Times Square and the Statue of Liberty, one would have to trek into Brooklyn to visit the 2nd most popular tourist spot in New York State. For tourists from all over the world, the 456-acre Green-Wood Cemetery offered a tranquil oasis away from the busy street scenes of New York City. The cemetery offers rolling paths and the tallest point in Brooklyn (Battle Hill, named after the Battle of Long Island in the Revolutionary War). Before Central Park, and Prospect Park, Green-Wood was the place for young couples and families to picnic and spend a Sunday afternoon.

Green-Wood is now a National Historic Landmark and well-known Brooklyn cultural institution. However, the cemetery's familiarity amongst tourists faces competition and modern sensibilities. Cemeteries are no longer thought to be places for Sunday picnics, as was the case in the late 19th Century.

My hypothesis for my field test was to see if an interactive version of the Green-Wood tourists map featuring drone footage of the grounds could encourage tourists and locals to visit the historic grounds. While this field test is a small sampling of what could be done, I am interested to see how people react to seeing drone footage of a spot they may have never considered visiting before. Would a fully interactive map, complete with drone views of a location, help guide a decision to visit?

Please view my map below. There are three map points that indicate where I shot drone footage. By clicking on any of the points, you will be linked directly to a YouTube page to view each of the videos.

Results

After posting my drone footage and the new interactive map, I used Google Surveys to collect data to test my hypothesis. In order to set up a control, I first asked respondents to indicate whether they live in or frequently visit the New York City area and whether they are familiar with the cemetery itself.

Of those who responded, 72% live or frequent New York.

Next, I asked respondents to indicate whether they would personally be interested in visiting a cemetery, albeit a historical one, as a tourist. The results were interesting.

44% indicated they would “maybe” visit a cemetery as a tourist.

27% of people said “yes” and an equal percentage indicated “no”.

The skepticism regarding a sightseeing visit to a cemetery wasn’t entirely surprising to me, but I was glad to see that my map/drone footage would have an opportunity to change people’s minds.

And I was correct on this. 94% of respondents were more inclined to visit the cemetery after viewing the interactive map and the corresponding drone video. Also, 100% of respondents felt that the drone footage added additional value to the map.

You can download a copy of my final whitepaper here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwX8rF-LURWDQXp0VE1ON3U5YW8/view?usp=sharing

Thank you for your time and support. And thank you to Green-Wood Cemetery for making this test possible.

Educational Content In a VR World

Within our content creation team, we are always seeking new opportunities to leverage technology and media technique to improve our educational platform. As a content coordinator working in online education, it is often encouraged to look ahead, to see new innovations and become early adopters.

In just a few months, our team has already seen several changes seeking ways to scale our online lecture tools. If I had to guess as to what the next major innovation will be within our video learning platform, I would say it would the adoption of virtual reality to immerse students fully into a classroom environment.

If virtual reality continues to be a success, and in demand, I imagine that students (in primary and secondary schools) will eventually use an affordable VR-device in their normal everyday studies. In an online environment, VR can be leveraged to bring remote students into a virtual world to experience a "hands-on" lecture. Students studying in the medical field could attend core anatomy classes from the comfort of their homes. Students in the sciences could attend virtual labs.

As a content coordinator, I anticipate that this adoption of VR would effect the way we plan online programs, as well as the way video content is edited and presented in a learning management system. The virtual environment could entice more students to the online format, as the benefits of experiencing a nearly in-person setting without geographical constraints could offer more than a traditional classroom environment.

Field Test Proposal - Week 9

Going off of a prior blog post, a gentle nudge from our guest speaker and against my original idea, I will be conducting a field test using a newly purchased drone.

My DJI Phantom 3 came in the mail recently, and has just finished charging as I am writing this blog post now. My first flight test will come tomorrow, and weather pending, my first flight will be on Tuesday.

I will be recording video and stills of Green-Wood Cemetery, a historic site in the boroughs of New York City, complete with design and architecture from the same designers of Central Park. I'm hoping on a clear day, to get some great footage of the grounds from 100 feet in the air.

There are still a few caveats...first, it's a cemetery. It is an active cemetery, and I will be actively avoiding areas of the grounds where a burial is occurring. I am hoping to not draw too much attention, despite my FAA registration, and my ultra-conservative flight tactics (I will keep the drone moderately low, and will contact local helipads the morning of my shoot to alert them of my activity). The park itself encourages photography, but video is a tricky proposition, especially when dealing with possibly sensitive situations.

My hope is that my drone footage will enhance an interactive map of the cemetery seen here: http://www.green-wood.com/map-of-green-wood-cemetery/. By creating interactivity, my hypothesis is that drone footage over areas of the map will enhance the experience of prospective visitors or those who've never heard of the historic site at all.

After recording my footage on Tuesday, I will spend some time building the map portion of my project, following a brief google survey where people can view the map and offer their opinions of the map and the drone footage.

Drone-based Reporting Over Green-Wood Cemetery

No it's not morbid at all. Green-Wood Cemetery is one of the largest cemeteries in the five boroughs and is certainly one of the most historic.

Set within rolling hills with massive mausoleums, Green-Wood was once a popular Sunday picnic destination for families in Brooklyn. Nowadays, the cemetery is a protected historical site and is host to various tours and "ghost" walks. The design of cemetery and its iconic gate helped inspire a competition that would lead to the design of Manhattan's Central Park (awarded to Calvert Veux and Frederick Law Olmstead).

Among those buried in Green-Wood are William "Boss" Tweed, Charles Ebbets (of the Brooklyn Dodgers original home at Ebbets Field), Henry Ward Beecher (abolitionist) and famous artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.

A drone story of Green-Wood Cemetery could highlight many of the notable burials on the grounds, as well as offer an engaging view of the immaculately designed lands from the air. While the Cemetery was once a major tourist spot in the 19th Century, active cemeteries (of historical value or not) are not often considered tourist destinations. Many of those who come to New York to sightsee are likely to never experience the cemetery, so a drone story that highlights the historical significance of the grounds with a great view of the land should prove to be an interesting story for history or design buffs.

One of the caveats to drone reporting in our neighborhood is that Prospect Park sits between two major airports, JFK and LaGuardia. In years past, drones have been reported flying close to the landing paths for jets arriving in NYC airports. It will be important to fly a drone in daylight, at a height under 200 feet using a drone weighing less than 55 pounds and to have the FAA exemption for non-hobbyists.

Effects of Console Vs. Virtual Reality Gaming on Heart Rate

At a previous job, the topic of the neurological and psychological effects of video gaming came up often (I used to work at Scientific American magazine, and there was a feature story about gaming in Scientific American MIND).

There are currently many studies out about how gaming effects sleep patterns, child and teen behavior and more. The general consensus is that the desensitizing effects of video games can have a negative impact on young children. However, for the purpose of this story I want to focus on one specific measurement: heart rate.

Many major gaming consoles have expanded their offerings past basic shoot em' ups and sports games to offer products with an active element. The Nintendo Wii and Xbox Kinect have featured video games that encourage physical activity and interaction.

Virtual reality gaming brings this interaction to a whole new level by completely immersing a gamer into a computer-generated world. Sony recently released Playstation VR, a new console add-on that claims to bring next-gen gaming to virtual reality.

What I'd like to see is a test using a heart-rate sensor (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12650) that measures heart-rate for regular console or computer gaming vs. active non-VR gaming (Wii, others) vs. virtual-reality gaming on a headset like the Playstation VR or Oculus. In particular, I'd like to see how an action, horror or particularly violent video game effects heart rate across each of the platforms. This kind of study would not only measure the amount of physical exertion and stress put onto a gamer's heart rate, but can also make general conclusions regarding the psychologic effects of these types of gaming.

Eyes on the Dakota Access Pipeline Protest: A VR Pitch

With the election at an end, and 4 years of President Trump on tap, climate policy will likely be overshadowed by the understandable fears of mass deportation, walls on our borders, and racist rhetoric. However, according to Mr. Trump's plans, many of the climate policies and gains under the Obama administration will be rolled back. The Paris Agreement on climate will be rolled back, and the much maligned Keystone Pipeline will continue its construction.

While each of these stories were covered extensively in the media, there was one story that seemed to never make it to primetime.

The Dakota Access Pipeline has been protested extensively by environmental groups and the Standing Rock tribe. These protests have resulted in several arrests, including the arrest of actress Shailene Woodley (this event saw a small amount of attention in the media, but was mostly overshadowed by election coverage). The pipeline threatens the water supply for those living on the reservation as well as many of the sacred sites for the Standing Rock tribe. Sadly, efforts to halt construction by the Obama administration will likely be overturned, and the pipeline will likely be completed under President Trump.

I think the American people need to see what is going on in Dakota, and I'm proposing a VR story where viewers can not only get a strong view of the pipeline, where it is in completion and what it will look like when it is completed. 3-D modeled landscapes will detail the proximity of the pipeline to the Standing Rock Reservation as well as a complete picture of the reservation itself.

Telling this story via VR will hopefully give viewers a strong understanding of what is at stake with the construction of this pipeline.

Sit Down, Class. Please Take Out Your Pencils and Oculus.

As an employee for an online education platform company, video is the main way professors lecture students. These videos are where students delve deep into the course content. Where webcam video powers classroom environments and students gain the experience of interacting with lecturers and fellow cohorts, asynchronous video is where most learning occurs.

These videos are two-dimensional, and often consist of a monologue-type lecture, with an occasional third-party video to watch.

I think the next evolution of this lecture video content is VR/360. This emerging media is already starting to expand into homes via gaming platforms, and on simplistic devices like the Google Cardboard. As more research and development money is thrown into this technology, it's safe to say that VR/360 will only get better as long as there is an audience. One area where there could be an audience is in the classroom.

Imagine lecture content that is filmed-on-location 360 video. As these cameras become easier to use and more portable than ever, I could see a virtual "field trip" to a museum. Perhaps an online art history class will be able to view a virtual MOMA. A medical student studying gross anatomy could virtually attend the dissection of a cadaver without being in the room.

While I think it will be several years where it becomes feasible, I definitely see the possibility of VR/360 technology becoming a tool in how people learn. I'm not quite sure this is good thing yet...I am definitely a cynic when it comes to the technology, especially in terms of journalism (too much staging, technology still isn't so "immersive" as it is just disorienting), but I wouldn't be surprised if this technology on a smaller scale won't naturally seep into our everyday lives. From my perspective, working at an education company, I can clearly see where the technology could be used. Time and testing will tell if it's a technology truly worthy of belonging in education.