100 Years of Silence is a series of media experiences designed to raise awareness about the history of the Ute people, told from the perspectives of tribal members themselves.
With full permission, we digitized Native artwork and crafts, enhanced black-and-white archival photographs, and recreated critical historical locations in Blanding, Utah using 3D modeling. These stories came to life through voiceovers and interviews recorded with community members.
Using an iPad-based AR experience placed at the actual historical sites, users could walk the land and hear untold stories unfold in real time. This project was a fusion of XR technology and Indigenous storytelling.
How to create a story deeply rooted in the culture?
After conducting interviews, I learned that the tribe continues a tradition of Third-Generation Family Households. This insight led me to propose using two fictional characters (grandma and Grandchild) to guide users through the experience — creating a narrative structure that reflects this cultural value.
The digitized artwork included several human figures, so I suggested we animate two of them to serve as our main characters. This allowed us to stay true to the original art while embedding the story in a form that felt authentic and respectful to the community.
How to integrate digital content into key locations
We designed a context-rich experience that immersed the audience at physical sites of critical historical moments.
To begin, I created an experience map and marked the key locations for archival photographs and significant landmarks. From there, I designed 2D, 2.5D, and 3D assets to overlay the physical surroundings and place augmented content in a way that felt natural and informative within each environment.
How to keep users engaged and safe throughout the experience
We designed a context-rich iPad experience that was both intuitive and accessible for the audience.
To guide movement between locations, I designed visual cues like bear paw prints and a pin icon to lead users to the next stop. I also introduced a red hawk character to serve as a visual guide throughout the experience.
To support safety and wayfinding, I created a printed and digital user manual that participants could refer to at any time. The screen automatically turned off when users approached street crossings, and we also coordinated to have the block closed off during the event to ensure a safe environment.
For engagement, I designed several interactive moments where users could interact with objects on the iPad by tapping, turning, and swiping, just like in iPad games.
To ensure proper scale, rendering quality, and device performance, I optimized several implementation methods in Unity.
I Imported local map data into Unity using the Cesium plugin to ensure spatial accuracy.
Created emission maps for every texture to enhance lighting and realism in AR
3. I Measured key physical locations for accurate 3D modeling overlays
4. Used AI to animate historic black-and-white photos and enrich them with textures
As the design lead, I defined the vision for the AR experience early on and guided the team in bringing that vision to life. I created initial storyboards and demo prototypes to align the team and clearly communicate our direction.
I applied a design thinking approach with rapid iteration. To move quickly from ambiguity to a clear storytelling vision, I adapted the double diamond method to better fit the project's needs and user goals.
Here is my workflow:
let's take a glance of some of the moments on a unity Simulation:
We are currently in the high-fidelity delivery phase. The launch is scheduled for August 31 and September 1, with an expected audience of 2,000 people.