CyArk Creates First Ever 3D Virtual Record of the Stonewall National Monument
CyArk, a heritage preservation non-profit, has completed the first ever 3D digital record of the Stonewall National Monument in New York, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising.
The project — the first of its kind to detail an LGBTQ historic site and national monument — uses data to create a photorealistic digital record of Christopher Park and the Stonewall Inn.
This experiential record will aid in the preservation of the national monument and make these historic sites accessible to visitors across the globe, for generations to come.
The CyArk 3D recording will be incorporated into a virtual reality experience that foregrounds the history of the Stonewall Uprising and enables virtual visitors to learn about the event’s significance in the LGBTQ rights movement.
Below is an example of what will result from the work, it is a scan of one of Mexico City’s most iconic monuments, the Palacio de Bellas Artes.
“The data collected will be used to create a powerful backdrop that immerses people visually in the history of the Stonewall uprising, and engages a new generation who may not be able to make the journey to New York to visit the Stonewall National Monument,” said John Ristevski, CEO of CyArk.
The Stonewall Inn, in Greenwich Village, was the site of a police raid in the early hours of June 28th, 1969. This was not an unusual occurrence, as the LGBTQ community faced intense discrimination from law enforcement at this time. But instead of dispersing, the angry crowd fought back and the resistance and uprising was a key turning point in the LGBTQ rights movement. In June 2016, President Obama designated the Stonewall National Monument, America’s first LGBTQ national park site.
“Our goal is to broaden people’s knowledge of LGBT history and to place that history in a geographical context through our research and website,” says Ken Lustbader, co-director of the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project.
“We endorse the technology used by CyArk to create an unsurpassed digital record of Stonewall, acknowledging its historic and cultural significance. The Stonewall National Monument now joins other monuments throughout the nation and globe that CyArk has recorded including the Washington Monument and the Mount Rushmore National Memorial.”
CyArk documented the portions of the National Monument site, comprising the Stonewall Inn and Christopher Park, using 3D mapping technology including LiDAR laser scanners and photogrammetry to create a sub-centimeter, detailed record of the site as it exists today.
The three-person mapping team captured exteriors of the park, the bar and its Christopher Street neighbors and, importantly the interior of the Stonewall Inn.
Now, any member of the LGBTQ community or ally can walk into this important historic site and connect with history.
