The Los Angeles River as you’ve never seen it — in augmented reality
“Rio de Los Angeles” is a new augmented reality app produced by RYOT, a production studio run by Verizon Media that specializes in interactive and immersive experiences, in collaboration with digital studios Vrai Pictures and Superbright.
The app is an interactive experience for iPhone and iPad that walks a viewer through some of the river’s history from the pre-historic era to the present. Point it at a flat surface, and a 3-D map of the Los Angeles Basin materializes on the screen. From there, a menu of options walks you through the river’s history, from the shifting waterway on a broad flood plain to the channelized water body encased in concrete.
Jessica Brillhart, founder of Vrai Pictures, a studio that has worked on virtual reality projects in the cultural arena — including a cosmic visualization of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony with London’s Philharmonia Orchestra — says she was intrigued by the story of the L.A. River after paying a visit to architect Frank Gehry’s studio and learning about his firm’s work on the river master plan.
Jake Sally, head of development at RYOT, which focuses on creating immersive content, saw an educational opportunity in the project — taking assembled information but finding a fresh way to present it. (Full disclosure: The Times has a partnership with RYOT as part of the Yahoo News XR Partner Program.)
See the full story here: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2020-07-30/los-angeles-river-augumented-reality-history-app