Stepping into Black History with Narrative AR

The (Un)Known Project’s Footprints Through Time invites participants to better understand the legacy of the Transatlantic Slave Trade by witnessing holographic conversations between Isaac, a young Black man, and the spirit of his great-great-grandmother Lula, as she shares powerful stories of their enslaved ancestors.

As Isaac and MamaLu journey together, they  learn about the land on which they walk, including the painful and harrowing experiences their ancestors faced there. Isaac reckons with how racism informs his modern life while visual affects (powered by room mapping technology) illuminate specific details from their surroundings in sync with MamaLu’s storytelling. 

Overall, it is a deeply human-centric way of engaging with a painful part of American history that is oftentimes obscured, rewritten, and difficult to discuss.

Locals and visitors of all ages can simply scan a QR code to launch the free, immersive program at three sites in and around Louisville:

Why Volumetric Capture?

In order to create an experience that allowed viewers to feel like a participant in very intimate human conversations and moments of reckoning between relatives, the creative team at Collimation knew they needed to avoid gamified, uncanny avatars. Their goal was to help the audience feel immersed, even implicated in, the dialogue. Why? At the heart of the project is a belief that pulling people into history helps bring historical “footprints” to life and inspires critical conversations with a lasting impact.

Collaborators and Community Impact

Footprints Through Time  was a collaborative effort, developed in partnership with notable organizations including Bridge Kids International, Berheim Forest, Frazier History Museum, Roots 101 African American Museum, and Bookman Cemetery with contributions from Metastage, 8th Wall, and Arcturus. 

The project was funded by a grant from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund of the National Trust for Historic Preservation with support from the Mellon Foundation. Additional support came from Fund for the Arts.

“This is going to open up doors for not just this conversation but for a lot of other difficult conversations,” Driscoll said.

Launch

QR codes for the AR experience were unveiled in September of 2024 near the “On the Banks of Freedom” and “In Our Elders’ Footprints” public art installations along the Louisville riverwalk in Kentucky. The project continues to provide a poignant and educational experience for attendees of all ages. 

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(Un)Known Team & Metastage Team

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Want to learn more about Volumetric Capture? For more information, contact our sales team at: team@metastage.com 

To learn more about the (Un)Known Project, please visit: https://unknownproject.org