Digital Heritage Landscapes

By Helen Jackson. Read about the development of the ‘Echoes of the Causeway’ app, that provides unique storytelling experiences through location-based soundscapes.

30 Mar 2022   4 min read

Digital Heritage Landscapes

I recently collaborated with Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council and arts group Big Telly, to develop the new ‘Echoes of the Causeway’ heritage trail app for smart phones and tablets. The free app allows visitors to experience the sights, sounds and secrets which exist off the beaten track as they explore some of our less well-known sites.

A group of eight people, two to the front, stand on a hilltop in front of a statue. They are holding a guidebook and smartphone showing the Echoes of the Causeway app.
Pictured at the Gortmore View Point for the launch of the new Echoes of the Causeway heritage trail smartphone app are, front row, the Mayor of the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council Councillor Richard Holmes, Causeway Coast and Glens Destination Manager Kerrie McGonigle, back row, writer Claire Savage, Dr Helen Jackson (Ulster University), Collette Quigley and Linda McCracken (Big Telly), writer Moyra Donaldson, and Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council Museum Services Engagement Officer Nic Wright.

Speaking at the launch of the app, The Mayor of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, Councillor Richard Holmes, said:

Causeway Coast and Glens has an incredibly rich culture, and this new heritage trail app is a wonderful way to explore our incredible places and their history in an exciting new way.

“From Kinbane to King’s Fort and Lig na Paiste to Lissanduff, this heritage trail celebrates the hidden gems of the Causeway Coast and Glens through their folklore, archaeology and history. It’s a very welcome addition to the incredible experiences waiting for everyone in the Borough and preserves the story of our past for today’s visitors.

The app provides storytelling experiences through location-based soundscapes and gamification approaches that immerse, orientate, and synthesize the locative experience with the unique heritage of these destinations.

The model of creation that was used in the project brought together different team members including storytellers, artists, sound engineers, curators, designers, developers, and geographers, to understand heritage in relation to a number of inter-related and consistent component parts.

As a methodology for interpretation using digital technologies, the project team prioritised a number of elements:

  • The development approach resisted taking the locations too literally as any literal approach could make a story less accessible intellectually.  Instead, the approach to digital heritage was to layer activities and stories within broader historical contexts where their meaning was anticipated to be more accessible.
  • The project team resisted developing linear only narratives, understanding that users of digital heritage solutions often fail to grasp the inherent significance of heritage such as place-specific physical artefacts or architectural monuments, and their relationship with much broader ‘non-visible’ cultural processes that they are part thereof.
  • The content development resisted an ‘ocular-centric’ approach to visually describe the physical appearance of heritage in its digital form, and instead prioritised non-visual interpretive solutions.
Image shows five screen shots of the Echoes of the Causeway app
Pictured are the screen images for Echoes of the Causeway app.

The free Echoes of the Causeway app is available at Google Play for android devices, or through the AppStore for iOS.

For more information on this project contact h.jackson@ulster.ac.uk