2023 Silver Davey Award Winner — Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Honored with the Silver Davey Award for Virtual & Immersive Experiences in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, recognizing historical restoration and community storytelling through accessible browser-based WebAR.
The original Multicultural Mural was painted in 1980 in Santa Fe to honor the profound contributions made by diverse cultural communities throughout New Mexico history. Decades later, the physical mural was whitewashed and lost to time. In partnership with the New Mexico Museum of Art — Vladem Contemporary, the VAST Lab digitally reconstructed the mural, deploying a location-aware WebAR application that allows museum visitors to view the artwork projected onto its original brick facade in real time.
Web-Based Computer Vision & Geolocation
To avoid friction for museum visitors, the application was built on 8th Wall WebAR, requiring zero app store downloads. Utilizing browser-based computer vision and GPS geo-fencing, the system verifies the user is on-site before seamlessly overlaying the historic artwork at true 1:1 architectural scale.
