Experiencing Falls Park interactively

POST FALLS - Interactive information awaits on your smartphone to help you experience the history around Falls Park at a new level.

The city received a grant from Avista Utilities as part of the Post Falls Dam relicensing process to launch a virtual reality app to enhance the park experience for visitors.

"The goal of the project was to design new interpretive signage that blended the history with current information and technology," said Tami Martinez, owner of Mallaurcott Design and Marketing, which worked on the project.

Martinez said Falls Park is the first in the country in which the technology has been integrated with outdoor signage to this scale.

The feature is being unveiled this weekend in conjunction with the Post Falls Festival.

Dave Fair, Post Falls parks and recreation director, said instructions are expected to be posted at the entrance to the park on Friday. Signage throughout the park was updated about six months ago.

"But it took time to get the technology part nailed down," said Fair, adding that the feature has been tested.

Fair said the grant paid for the entire $33,000 cost for the Falls Park signage project. It will also fund another $30,000 in trail upgrades at Q'emiln Park after the South Channel Dam restoration project is completed.

With Avista's historic dam between the parks on the Spokane River, in addition to the Corbin irrigation ditch at Falls Park and the trails at Q'emiln Park, the area is rich in history and recreation opportunities that are highlighted with the app. Interactive content such as historical photos, videos, trail routes and more are on display.

To this point, interactive print has been used almost exclusively in indoor environments due to outdoor issues such as the weather, sun glare and shadows, said Martinez, a parks and recreation commissioner.

As a result, Falls Park will be featured at an upcoming national parks and recreation conference through IZone Imaging, the sign manufacturer, and Layar, an interactive print company.

"The Falls Park project was instrumental in solving some issues with an outdoors environment," Martinez said.

The interactive material provides much more information to park visitors than what can be posted on signs at the park, Fair said.

"This will extend the park experience so much farther," he said.

Martinez added: "It's cool to see historic photos that have just been in a box at Avista."

The artwork by Beverly Jaquish that was on the previous signs at the park has been preserved and is also on the new signs in color.

"The drawings stood the test of time," Martinez said.

To use the free Layar application, download the app on your smart device at get.layar.com. Once it is downloaded, launch the app, center the entire park sign into the viewfinder of your device and tap on the screen. Interactive content will open and features are a click away to experience.

The parks department plans to expand the technology with recreational opportunities in the future. In addition to Falls Park, the parks department is utilizing the technology in other parks for users to report damage or vandalism and rent a field or facility. Instruction signs for those features are also being posted at the other parks. The city's logo is also interactive and will land users on the city's main website.

"There are so many more capabilities that we will be able to build on," Martinez said.

Martinez linked the app to town founder and lumber mill owner Frederick Post's vision of expanding opportunities to people.

"His goal was to see this area become a manufacturing mecca," she said. "When you look around today, that is what Post Falls has become and continues to open doors in that arena. Somehow, it feels like we are fulfilling old Fred's vision for future generations."