Skin & Bones Augmented Reality App

Skin & Bones is a mobile app with augmented reality technology created for the Bone Hall at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

I co-produced, designed and created content for this tool meant to engage the exhibit visitors with animal anatomy and evolution. Included are stories about the animals’ natural history, interviews with the scientists that study them, significant scientific ideas they represent and how their bones work. All done through 32 videos, 4 games, and 10 augmented reality experiences to showcase 13 animals whose skeletons are on display at the Bone Hall. The app is still available for download to iPhones and iPads (although it may be incompatible with newer operating systems).

Skin & Bones results from the collaboration of many talented professionals including museum curators, museum educators, software developers, animators, and audio and video producers. The 2D and 3D illustrations were created by me with commercially available software packages and using different imaging techniques – 3D scanning, optical scanning, photogrammetry, CT and micro-CT scanning. The inspiration for the user interface was the retro look of the Bone Hall, a space designed in the 60s that is a testament to classic natural history museum exhibits.

This project was part of my doctoral research and multiple journal articles have been published about the use of the app and augmented reality technology in the Bone Hall and in museums at large. Read the abstracts and download the full articles on the publications page, and learn more about my research here.

The app was the recipient of a prestigious Gold MUSE Award for Games and Augmented Reality, an annual distinction by the American Alliance of Museums. It also received considerable attention from the media, such as in this story from the Washington Post.