Ball State University students have developed a new phone app that will allow visitors to Indiana state parks to create driving or walking history tours for their trip.

The Indiana State Park History Tour app allows users to discover historic sites, view historic photos, read stories and see maps interpreting the history of 23 state parks. The app was created by students under the direction of Ronald Morris, history professor and Presidential Immersive Learning Fellow.

“Each state park has a story of Native Americans who lived on the land, settlers who farmed or protected the land from development and of people who decided to preserve or restore the land to what it might have looked like originally,” said Morris. “The state parks are beautiful memoirs of nature and of history, and continue to serve as a constant reminder of our heritage as Hoosiers. The Indiana state parks phone app will help preserve these parks’ unique stories and give their visitors an increased appreciation for Indiana’s public lands.”

Users can either deliberately investigate one of the parks seeking historic sites or can allow the app to alert them with a tone or pulse as they wander through. Background music composed by Ball State music students accompanies the app.

“Instead of building signs for the parks that would obstruct visitors’ views, we thought an app would be a more convenient and fun way for visitors to discover unique places in the parks,” stated Samantha Harsh, one of the students who worked on the app. “Along those same lines, the app’s audio features allow the visitor to actually look at the site and experience it without having to stare at their phone screen the whole time.”

The free app is available to download for iPhone, Android and Windows phone platforms.

Source: Ball State University