Greetings from Becky & Bryan

Hi! Our names are Becky Heavner and Bryan Leister. We are what might be called a cross-functional art team. Bryan and I make augmented reality sculptures. I focus on developing the sculptures and Bryan animates and codes the experience. Our process is to pass the concept back and forth, moving it forward like a soccer ball in a game. Software developers call this agile development. The last augmented reality sculpture we worked on together was called, "Interference." The sculpture was inspired by a pond that I wasn't allowed to swim in (the forbidden pond)–and a pond we installed in our backyard in Virginia. On a summer night, I would hear frogs chirping and run out with a flashlight to find them. The sculpture was made by forming paper pulp over a 6 foot diameter soccer ball. After it was dry, we peeled it off. I call it a paper skin, but to some people it looks like stone, or a thin piece of earth. Bryan projected animated images of frogs onto the skin. In the gallery setting, people could interact with this piece by pointing modified flashlights at the projection. A sensor responds to the infrared light filters in the flashlight and the frogs swim towards the flashlight. When too many people interact with the frogs, they become agitated. Some people have experienced empathy for the animations, which I find really interesting!

Traversal installation at Walker Fine Art in Denver, Colorado, Spring 2014. Paper sculpture, two channel sound, sensors and interactive projection.

Interactive projected frogs on a paper sculpture, as part of the Traversal installation.

Our installation for the Parthenon is a mobile augmented reality game called Pygmalion's Challenge. In June, we had the help of nine volunteers who installed the markers for our game. If you walk around the grounds, you will see the markers. They are aluminum square pieces with animal-shapes cut from each center. They are angled and set in the earth with plants growing in and around them. When we have the game ready for you to play, we will announce it on the blog, that way, you can download the free app from the Apple store before you come to the museum. Players can use an iPhone or Android device to point at the markers to trigger the game. The game is based on the treasure of the Delian League, a fifth century association of Greek city-states.  

Butterfly Marker for augmented reality game Pygmalion's Challenge, FLEX IT! at the Parthenon Museum, 2014.

The main goal of our game is to unlock the central treasure. Players must move in and around the grounds between sculptural markers and the treasury located in the back of the Parthenon to collect coins. Once a deposit has been made, players return to the markers to release colorful animated characters from the sculptures.  Players will have the opportunity to pose with the virtual characters and share photos with friends on social media. We hope you come out to play. It is designed for kids, but I hope all ages will play. Stay tuned for updates!