New WVU Libraries exhibit explores West Virginia's hidden stories through augmented reality
A new exhibit created by students and faculty in the West Virginia University Reed College of Media and WVU Libraries will highlight the success of unknown West Virginians through augmented reality.
"Unseen, Unknown: An Augmented Reality Exhibit Exploring WV Sights & Stories, gives new voice to these unknown figures by blending history and emerging media, and I'm thrilled to host such an innovative and collaborative exhibit at the Libraries," Sally Deskins, Exhibits and Program Coordinator at the WVU Libraries, said.
Augmented reality changes the viewer's perspective of reality by superimposing an image, a video or text over their view of the world. Similar to QR codes, aiming a smartphone camera at the photos in "Unseen, Unknown" will trigger a short video or slideshow to appear, providing history on the subject.
Those featured in the exhibit include Georgeann Wells, WVU women's basketball player and the first woman to dunk in an official NCAA intercollegiate game; Katherine Johnson, a NASA mathematician and W.Va. native who attended WVU and was featured in Hidden Figures, the 2017-18 Campus Read; and Grace Martin Taylor, WVU alum and successful artist; and many more.
Historical Morgantown landmarks will also be featured, such as Falling Run and the Sunnyside neighborhood, with photos courtesy of Christopher Dale and the West Virginia and Regional History Center.
The exhibit will be on display on the second floor of the Downtown Campus Library from October through December. Instructions for downloading the augmented reality app used to view the exhibit will be available.
The WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Department of History and the Royce J. and Caroline B. Watts Museum also contributed to the project.
This is exhibit can travel! For more information, contact Sally Deskins at sbdeskins@mail.wvu.edu.