The potential of emerging interfaces to transform engagement with historical narratives in geographic space

Twenty-first century technological advancements are supporting collaborations between social science and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as well as GIS and emerging geovisual interface technologies. The capabilities of GIS have led historical scholars to adopt GIScience methodologies, emerging as the evolving field of ‘historical GIS’ (or HGIS). This work explores the intersection of spatial interface technologies and HGIS, to identify new opportunities for connecting audiences with ‘narratives’, ‘experiences’, or ‘emotions’ of historical events and places. Through a review of HGIS literature, and the development of several working prototypes, driven by the research focus of the Landscapes of Injustice project, this work aims to create a bridge between HGIS research and human narrative approaches with 3D and across a continuum of mixed- reality technologies, and identify the opportunities these connections offer to create experiential, emotional spaces, rich with narrative and empathic potential for HGIS scholarship and historical pedagogy.