Augmenting the Marae

The Te Ngira project uses smartphones in smart new ways to strengthen the mana of a marae and support the wairua of its community.

A dynamic learning system has been created in and around Papakura Marae that incorporates whakapapa, tikanga, and te reo, and engages the community in ways which are critical to health and well being and relevant to 21^st century Māori society.

Students at different age and achievement levels, community members, and tourists can access  historical and cultural information, community members access up to date information about services on offer at the marae, and groups hiring facilities, or attending events (e.g. tangi, huihuinga) learn the kawa and tikanga of the marae and see what facilities are available.

 

The system, created by Imersia Group, is based on leading edge geo locative mobile technology. Through the portal of their mobile phone users access archival photos, videos of stories told by Marae founders, information about protocol and historical-cultural information linked to carvings and other taonga around the Marae.

Imersia Group have signed an MOU with the marae in an innovative indigenous-private sector partnership. The Imersia platform allows for cloud-based real time interactivity on a massive scale and powerful data processing. This will mean that multiple users can experience a variety of experiences simultaneously and imersively.

In the Marae app you either look 'through' the screen and see icons (marking story-points) floating in space ....

.....or look down into the screen and see a map of the content markers in relation to where you are in space.

 

The next stage of the project involves young tertiary and post tertiary Maori and Pacifica creative technology students and professionals generating animations, audio, video content based on existing material. 

The vision is for the interiors of the wharenui and other learning buildings around the site to be alive with songs, stories, images and teachings. Of course, these buildings are already inspirited and alive, the technology just reveals this by 21st century tools.

We are currently submitting applications for funding this next exciting stage. I will post updates on funding and next steps on Twitter as they emerge. See @magsbx.