East Bay artist explores past using augmented reality app he developed
SAN FRANCISCO -- Damien McDuffie is an artist, historian and archivist and this West Oakland native has recently added software developer to his résumé.
Over the past two years, McDuffie has built an augmented reality app that takes monuments, pictures and art in his community and changes the way people interact with them.
"What I really wanted to do is figure out ways that we could take physical artifacts and bring them together with digital assets and tell new stories," he said.
The app is called Black Terminus.
"This is something I've never been more clear about in my life," McDuffie said.
The app can take a twenty-dollar bill with Andrew Jackson on its face and generate an immersive experience featuring abolitionist Harriet Tubman instead.
"Through our app, through our camera, we can have people look through and see those moments come to life," McDuffie said. "It's our hope that experiencing some of the stories will resonate a little bit more because it's a deeper connection."
At this week's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, McDuffie collaborated with potential partners like DeepMirror, based in Santa Clara, which takes real-time positioning and 3D-mapping to another level.
"The users and players can play the game without holding a tablet. They can walk around with their headsets on and have the virtual version of the scene in their headset," said Lifeng Yan, with DeepMirror.
"My ideas just started going crazy just by being able to interact with what they have," McDuffie said.
The Oakland Tech graduate is embracing the challenge of his pioneering work in a world that was, not long ago, foreign to him.
"In environments that have to do with tech, gaming or even business and oil, somebody like me is going to be the minority. There are not as many Black folks in tech. That's just the numbers," McDuffie said.
McDuffie hopes the path he and other Black developers are paving will create more opportunities for those following in their footsteps.
"The kids are gonna be the ones who actually take this to where I imagine it should go," McDuffie said.
McDuffie says his idea was initially inspired during a visit to museums in Thailand and Japan which have incorporated augmented reality into some exhibits.
