Teching up Space

Using Augmented and Virtual Reality to highlight black experiences in Arkansas
Pre-production Project

How do we engage 21st century learners?

Accessibility and community building are at the center of this digital prototype, which harnesses widespread and intuitive technologies. It seeks to answer these questions, among others: How do we make VR and AR experiences accessible in existing educational spaces? How can VR/AR and bone conduction technology be used to enhance narratives based on the creation of inclusive, community-oriented research, collaboration and reflection in historical spaces such as the NPS Museum tour and Music Education Incentive?

The objective of this project is to reimagine the Little Rock Nine guided tour at the Little Rock Central High National Park Site. These funds would be used to help create supplemental experiences that enrich the current guided tour with additional audio-visual storytelling layers accessed through AR via cell phone and bone conduction headphones.AR immersion via Unity in combination with bone conduction headphones are integral to this project because they do not cover the ear, allowing the participants to actively be engaged in the storytelling of the Little Rock Central High School National Park Site tour guide while having their experience enhanced with an ambient soundscape evoking 1957—foregrounding not only the harrowing memories but also stories of inspiration and perseverance from that time.

Project Objectives

Blending Tour with AR

Collaboration with tour guides/education specialists at the Little Rock Central High School Park Site is at the center of this project. While on the tour these oral histories will be reinforced with an authentic ambient soundscape and visitors will be able to use their phones to see the crowds and signage that the Nine, reporters, and other witnesses saw during that time at specific locations through AR 360 photos. Visitors will also learn about many of the positive and triumphant experiences of the Nine and the community that supported them.
The tour would ultimately include:
2 AR / Bone Conduction Walking Tours
1 to complement the original Park Guided Tour
1 as a self-guided extension of the original walking tour
Interactive Statue AR interaction
AR / Sound Location Interaction

Vertical Slice AR Tour

Vertical Slice VR Experience

These funds will help support PhD scholarship and research focusing on interactive gaming and game design. Unlike projects rooted in Computer Science, which often emphasize programming and software development, this research approaches gaming as a cultural, narrative, and performative medium, engaging with its impact on storytelling, identity, and cultural expression.
What makes this research unique is its interdisciplinary approach, combining Digital Humanities, Game Studies, African American Culture and Studies, Performance Studies, and Interactive Game Design. This project not only examines games as texts but also explores how they function as interactive cultural artifacts that shape and reflect social narratives, particularly in underrepresented communities.This funding is crucial to ensuring that innovative humanities research on gaming—especially research that highlights diverse cultural perspectives—can thrive. By supporting this scholarship, the grant will directly contribute to advancing new, critical insights into gaming as a cultural form while also providing necessary financial relief for a dedicated scholar pursuing important, yet often underfunded, work.