The Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC is opening a new augmented reality (AR) experience that brings history to life.
Debuting on 18 April, the Temple of Invention AR experience can be found in the museum’s Luce Foundation Center, “a space where we pilot innovative programs and new approaches to audience engagement”, said Jane Carpenter-Rock, deputy director for museum content and outreach.
Before it was an art museum, the historical building was home to the patent office for the US, known as a “temple of invention”.
“It is particularly fitting to see this technology used in SAAM’s historical building, which, as the patent office, was the heart of America’s early drive to inspire innovation, displaying models for inventions like the light bulb and the telephone,” Carpenter-Rock added.
Produced by Smartify and supported by AT&T, the new AR game will allow visitors to meet the inventors, soldiers, poets, artists and architects who walked the halls of the patent office.
They will also experience key moments in history, like President Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural ball, an 1877 fire that destroyed thousands of patent models, and American nurse Clara Barton tending to wounded Civil War soldiers.
Enhanced historical experience
The Smithsonian American Art Museum is home to one of the most significant collections of American art in the world. In September, the institution reopened its renovated galleries for modern and contemporary art.
In more news, Elizabeth C. Babcock has been announced as the founding director of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum.
The new AR experience is available at the Smithsonian American Art Museum through 16 May.
Images courtesy of the Smithsonian / Abert Ting
