Samsung Electronics Singapore has launched the Culture Explorer mobile app to facilitate understanding and appreciation of heritage landmarks via augmented reality. The initiative is part of a formal global CSR movement at Samsung which began last year.
Singapore has been selected as the first Southeast Asian country to roll out the app, which will enable users to learn more about local landmarks. "Singapore is the Regional HQ for Samsung, so a lot of things that happen with Samsung happen in Singapore first," explained Esther Low, Acting Head, of Corporate Marketing, Samsung Electronics Singapore.
“Samsung believes that technology is the perfect medium to link past with present, to connect communities and generate greater appreciation of Singapore’s culture and heritage. ‘Culture Explorer’ enables users to appreciate the rich history of important landmarks in Singapore and helps to pique interest among the young generation with the use of augmented reality technology.”
Users of the app can learn interesting details about landmarks, such as the fact that the national anthem Majulah Singapura was written to commemorate the opening of a refurbished Victoria Theatre in 1958. Users will initially be able to see how the National Museum of Singapore, Singapore Botanic Gardens, Victoria Theatre and Victoria Concert Hall looked like in the past, and learn more about each landmark. By July 2015 users will also be able to see what The Arts House and Raffles Hotel used to look like, with more locations to come.
Culture Explorer is the result of Samsung partnerships with the National Heritage Board (NHB) and National Parks (NParks), which, with the support of the Singapore National Commission for UNESCO, were instrumental in selecting the landmarks and providing curated content. The NHB provided little-known facts such as that the National Museum of Singapore's dome is made up of fish scaled zinc tiles and 50 coloured glass panels, while NParks provided details such as Swan Lake in the Singapore Botanic Gardens is home to a pair of Mute Swans.
Samsung is also bringing the app for schools. It has already gone to Gan Eng Seng Primary School and will also go to Yangzheng Primary School as part of a pilot outreach. Samsung has created a Culture Explorer kit to make learning more interactive for students, Low said, with prizes of traditional games given in return for correctly-completed activity sheets whose answers are available in the app.
Culture Explorer is compatible with all Android smartphones and tablets and can be downloaded for free from the Google Play Store and from Galaxy Apps. The app will be rolled out in the rest of Southeast Asia throughout the rest of the year.
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