IN-PERSON: Prague – Section A
Abstract
Mayday Hills was formerly a mental asylum in a rural town in south-eastern Australia. It was disestablished in 1994 so there are still people with a living memory of it being a functioning hospital. A research project seeks to record those memories as well as search archives and find images and objects from the social history. The aim of this presentation is to demonstrate one of the outcomes of the research: virtual tours in the online space that are embedded with information gleaned from the research project. The innovative technology used is state of the art aerial and 360 degree photography/ photogrammetry with surround-sound audio capture devices, DSLR cameras and image compositing packages. These are collated and encoded to give the viewer an experience of being in the environment. The content for the site is derived from the social history research continually in progress. Currently the website is in it early stages, but provides an exciting format with deep and rewarding explorations for the visitor. The Mayday Hills virtual website is the bridge between the physical space and the virtual. Visitors on-site can link to the website via QR codes provided on buildings and information signs. Virtual visitors can get a glimpse into a fascinating part of Australian history, which may encourage them to visit the locale in person.
Mr Timothy Crutchett is a Lecturer in Creative Arts at Charles Sturt University (CSU) teaching Creative Arts, Photography and Visual Communication. His research interests are in creative technology applications toward archiving, such as gigapixel imaging, virtual reality and photogrammetry. His background in digital imaging and audio capture were integral to create an explorable narrative for the Mayday Hills virtual tour project.
Dr Jennifer Munday is an Associate Professor at Charles Sturt University (CSU) teaching in the disciplines of Creative Arts, and Technology. Jennifer co-leads the Creative Practice Circle research group at CSU. She has served on the Arts Victoria Advisory Panel and is a member of the Advisory Committee for Write Around the Murray, the Albury–Wodonga Writers Festival and is currently engaged in a number of other research projects as well as the Mayday Hills Research Group.
Dr Alison Watts, Southern Cross University, was awarded her PhD titled ‘Maternal insanity in Victoria, Australia: 1920-1973.’ She has a strong familial connection to Mayday Hills, as her grandmother lived as a patient there in the 1950 and 1960s. Alison curated artefacts from private family collections in the Collections from the Asylum: Past Lives, Present Tense exhibition on Mayday Hills at the Albury Library Museum in 2020. She has several journal articles under review and her research on experimental treatments applied to insane mothers in asylums, Victoria, is published in the journal Health and History. In this project, she is responsible for managing and writing the maydayhills.org.au Blog content.
Ms Eileen Clark is an adjunct Research Fellow at Charles Sturt University. Eileen Clark: Adjunct Research Fellow, Faculty of Arts & Education, Charles Sturt University, Albury, New South Wales, Australia. She holds degrees in sociology and genealogy and her research interests include mental health and qualitative methodologies.
Mr Patrick McKenzie is the Technical Manager for the Faculty of Arts and Education at Charles Sturt University (CSU). He is a research capable technologist who is adept at moving into new environments and extrapolating from experience. His background as an accomplished technology professional with demonstrated success in leading, supporting and integrating solutions in complex enterprise environments underpinned the technology stack utilised for the Mayday Hills Project
5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Thursday 29th June, 2023