Arlington National Cemetery is one of the best known and most visited burial grounds in the US, but until recently its employees navigated the cemetery with paper records and frayed maps -- a system that spurred public criticism over the misidentification of burial sites.
After an Inspector General investigation prompted a comprehensive inventory of gravesites at the cemetery, Army officials who oversee the burial ground (which receives about 4 million visitors a year) decided to design a better way to map it. After more than a year of work, the Army has developed the Arlington National Cemetery Explorer app, which links geospatial mapping of the cemetery's gravesites with photos of tombstones and digital records of who's buried there. "We thought a smartphone application or Web-based application would really allow [visitors] to get information about the cemetery without having to interact with anybody, really present information in the palm of their hand, Maj. Nick Miller, Arlington's CIO, said in a press release.
The Arlington National Cemetery Explorer App provides information about burial sites and the people buried there. It is expected to be available in October. (Source: Army)
Burial sites will be designated on the app map with color-coded icons. Green icons will show locations that are already assigned, while orange icons will show sites under maintenance. The app also will provide an activity guide for the cemetery, so people can avoid congested areas or routes, as well as information about scheduled maintenance like tree pruning.
App designers must verify the accuracy of about 25,000 of the 400,000 burial records for the cemetery before the app can go live. The Army expects it to be available for download Oct. 20 from the iTunes Store, the Android Market, or the Army Marketplace. The app was designed in partnership with Geographic Information Services Inc. of Huntsville, Ala.
Nearly an entire company of soldiers from the Army's 3rd US Infantry Regiment, along with volunteers, spent last summer photographing the front and back of each tombstone in the cemetery. The Army also had to collect GPS coordinates for the gravesites. The geospatial mapping system links to a backend database of information about who is interred at each site.
The cemetery will install kiosks with a version of the app to help visitors who don't have smartphones find gravesites. The Army said it plans to add features to the app and expand it to include a military cemetery at the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Washington.
Nice example of how mobile can really deliver the goods, especially for targeted, information delivery. I'm sure it's the rare case of someone visiting the cemetary who doesn't have some sort of smart phone. I would expect to see these kind of apps come out for a variety of tourist sites.
Beth, that is a great idea. Having a more detailed "map" of a site, such as a historical site, will provide a lot of value. The nice thing about databases and computers is that they never fray or fade. That should be a welcome attribute for anyone maintaining such a site. Once the original work has been done to verify the information, it is there for good.
Looks like an enormous amount of effort went into the app. The good thing, is that it only have to be done once. Keeping it updated as new burial sites are added won't be nearly the chore of the original effort.
Anyone who has tried to find an unfamiliar gravesite knows how hard that can be without aid. It must be much worse at a cemetary the size of Arlington National. If this helps the four million visitors a year, and prevents misidentification of burial sites, then this is a very good thing.
Thanks kindly for this article. My father was lost at sea 28 April 1967 as a member of Crew 10, Patrol Squadron 4. His shipmates tell me there is a marker for all of the crew somewhere in Arlington. Apps like this are very important to the families. What a great application of technology!
I like the potential for this; I hope they follow through with things like service record, citations, maps of theatres. It's one thing to know a soldier received a silver star, but to read the citation as well would make for a very powerful experience.
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