Lower Sioux Agency Historic Site Promotes Visitor Programming with 360-Degree Video

The Lower Sioux Agency Historic Site is now using 360-degree video and virtual reality produced by Golden Shovel Agency to book more visits by groups wanting educational experiences, diversity training, research opportunities, and field trips for their school, business, and community organizations. They've improved the way they communicate about the multitude of programming opportunities they offer, and they're staying up to date with technology.

When Cheyanne St. John, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the Lower Sioux Dakota Community, was introduced to virtual reality video through Golden Shovel's Place VR technology, she immediately recognized that this was the way to improve how they communicate their ability to customize programming to meet different needs and stand out as an extraordinary experience. "None of the methods that we were using to promote group visits to the site were adequately communicating how we're able to customize programming to meet different needs. Now that we have our 360-degree video, we can not only tell people about the choices available to them, but we can also bring them right onto the site with a multisensory experience," said Cheyanne St. John. Watch the video here.

"There's also a scene in the video where you're standing right next to a buffalo target while one of our staff demonstrates throwing an atlatl. Watching that weapon travel toward the target definitely stimulates a physical response when your brain thinks you're standing just a few feet away," Cheyanne continued. The physical response is what makes this type of media so powerful, helping people to retain information and leading them to action, in this case, to contact the historic site and plan a group visit. The site also has a virtual reality kiosk in its museum to give visitors a way to travel the grounds and trails without leaving the building. The kiosk has been popular with visitors of all ages and is being used as a tool to help the Tribal Preservation Office reach out to the younger generation in their own community.

"Cheyanne and her team at the Lower Sioux Agency Historic Site have some aggressive goals for reaching new audiences and for staying up to date with technology, said Aaron Brossoit, CEO of Golden Shovel Agency. Once you've experienced virtual reality, you'll soon discover why people are drawn to it. What happens when you put on the goggles is that your brain thinks you're actually in a new place and it's that intense brain activity that makes the experience so memorable. "We're pleased that we could play a part in how they are telling the story of the past, by using technology that's creating the future," continued Aaron.

Golden Shovel Agency has pioneered the use of 360-degree and virtual reality video for economic development through PlaceVR, a division of the company. The two PlaceVR projects with the Lower Sioux Agency Historic Site are evidence of both an increasing number of potential applications for virtual reality video, and the skillset of the PlaceVR team to use technology to combine the audio and images to help organizations meet diverse goals. Learn more about PlaceVR technology here.