Convened by the Institute for Integrative Conservation (IIC) as part of a mural pitch competition, an undergraduate student team—Sofia Geislinger ‘22, Sarah Wicker ‘23, and Katie Lee ’22—created an augmented reality (AR) mural with the support of interdisciplinary mentors, including Associate Professor of Art Nicole Santiago and Muscarelle Director of Engagement & Distinguished Artist In Residence Steve Prince.

The mural concept reflects the mutualistic relationship between plants and pollinators and the unique way in which pollinators see the ultraviolet (UV) pigments of plants. The mural features a diverse community of Virginia’s native plants and pollinators, celebrating their vibrant colors, interesting shapes, and relationships that are part of Virginia’s ecosystem. The idea to focus on plants and pollinators came to Katie Lee after one of her classes discussed how flowers look under UV light.

In addition to the team of on-campus mentors, the students also worked with CEO Enrique Sánchez-Rivera, MBA ’07, Mauricio Fernández, Maria Jose Valencia, and Guillermo Alvarez of Augmented Island Studios, a Latinx-owned AR/VR studio based in Portland, OR and with development offices in Cali, Colombia. Sánchez-Rivera advised the IIC on combining art and AR technology to portray a message about nature in a more immediately digestible format than any means of traditional art alone could provide.

How to interact with the mural

Augmented reality (AR) superimposes virtual 3D-elements onto our the real 2D-world. Any smartphone or device with a camera can show the experience through a web browser or an app. The A Bee's Eye View mural requires only an internet browser like Chrome or Safari.

View Onsite

Visit the A Bee's Eye View mural on the southwest exterior wall of Swem Library, at the entrance to the Omohundro Institute. (See the ground floor plan)

1. On your mobile device, go to the website with the AR experience, or scan the QR code next to the painting with your device's camera.
2. You will need to grant permission to the website to use your device's camera.
3. Once the website is loaded, point your device's camera towards the mural. Make sure the whole mural is visible within the camera frame. The website looks for specific points in the mural to generate the 3D images and animations.
4. Move your camera around to rotate and experience the visuals at different angles. Ask a friend to pose in front of the mural, and it will look like they are part of the 3D world!

View Virtually

The augmented reality view even works with online or printed photos of the mural. To view the mural online, you will need two devices - one to view the image through the AR website and a second to show the photo of the mural.

1. Use your first device's camera to scan the QR code (left) or click this link to access the augmented reality experience.
2. On your second device, open a large scale image of the A Bee's Eye View mural. Hold up your first device connected to the AR website and center the image within the camera frame.

You can also try printing the image in color and using that instead of a second display. 

Example Video of the Mural

For more details about the creation of the mural, see the April 2022 W&M Libraries news article: "New student-designed mural to debut at Swem Library"

Sponsors

This project was sponsored by the Institute for Integrative Conservation, Augmented Island Studios, W&M Libraries, W&M Sustainability and the Muscarelle Museum of Art with support from the Art & Art History Department, W&M Facilities, W&M Public Safety Department, and the W&M Design Review Board.