This phase of the CemetARy project took the existing augmented reality cemetery app and rebuilt it to be more robust, accurate, and ready for public use across all 171 U.S. national cemeteries. Sponsored by Dr. Amy Giroux, the 2021 team focused on upgrading three core areas: a more capable administrative website for managing a database of thousands of veteran profiles, a redesigned and more reliable backend database, and a refined mobile application with improved GPS navigation and a stronger optical character recognition system for reading headstones. The app still serves its original mission—guiding visitors to a specific grave and surfacing the story of the veteran buried there—but this iteration made it more user-friendly, more accurate, and capable of working offline, moving the tool closer to something any member of the public could use at a national cemetery anywhere in the country.
