City replaces downtown nativity scene with augmented reality display
Two years after quietly decommissioning Edmonton's 40-year-old outdoor manger scene, the city is rolling out an augmented reality depiction of the nativity instead.
Visitors to city hall can explore various scenes of the Christmas creche and hear scripture readings and carols after downloading the city's app and using a smartphone to scan an icon at the city's downtown faith exhibit.
"If my memory serves me correctly, we didn't have Christmas carols as a part of the outdoor nativity scene. We certainly didn't have any Bible readings that were included in that. So this actually builds on what was there before, but in a different way."
Outdoor display decommissioned
The outdoor display in Sir Winston Churchill Square featured life-sized, fibreglass figures of Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus and wise men inside a wooden stable as well as, for many years, real animals.
"It became part of the cultural fabric of decorations downtown," Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton spokesperson Lorraine Turchansky said.
'Christmas decorations are just fine'
"We love to see that menorah outside at the [legislature] grounds and our friends in the other faith communities think that Christmas decorations are just fine," Turchansky said. "And I think that many of them say they're willing to support us to restore that nativity scene if we can."
See the full story here: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/augmented-reality-nativity-scene-1.5401545