The National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. will bring French heritage back to life on April 15 with an exhibition, Notre-Dame de Paris: The Augmented Exhibition, a 360-degree AR immersion into the 850-year history of the cathedral and its ongoing restoration, according to a company press release.
The installation was designed and produced by Histovery, a French start-up, in collaboration with the public institution in charge of the conservation and restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris. L’Oréal is the sponsor of the exhibit.
The exhibition’s North American debut at the museum takes place on the third anniversary of a fire that heavily damaged the site and runs through Sept. 26. On April 15, 2019, a fire ravaged Notre-Dame, tearing through the 12th century cathedral, destroying two-thirds of its roof and collapsing its spire. The exhibition revisits this tragic day and provides a look at the Paris Fire Brigade which battled the blaze for hours trying to preserve the building. It’s the first interactive technology exhibition on display at the National Building Museum.
To navigate the exhibition, each visitor will use a HistoPad, an AR touch-screen tablet developed by Histovery. The hand-held device creates immersive and interactive reconstructions, visually transporting visitors back in time. Visitors can choose between 11 language options and a self-guided children’s virtual treasure hunt encourages exploration of the cathedral’s history and identification of items secretly imbedded within the AR screens.