Overview
To celebrate Black History Month ‘25, we partnered with Niantic and 8th Wall to showcase the power of Niantic Studio and its latest features to create Black Wall Street: Then and Now—an interactive WebAR project that brings the history of Tulsa’s Greenwood District to life. By utilizing Niantic Scaniverse, Gaussian Splats, and the newly introduced Niantic Studio Spaces, this experience allows users to explore historic Black Wall Street through the lens of augmented reality (AR). Designed as both an educational and immersive storytelling tool, this project enables users to experience present-day Tulsa’s with the added context of overlaid historical images.
Client
Niantic
Industry
Education
Release
2025
Black Wall Street: Then and Now is a WebAR experience that offers users the opportunity to step back in time and visualize the vibrant Greenwood District as it once was. Users can step into a portal that transports them to present day Tulsa, represented through 3D Gaussian splats. To compare present day Tulsa to the hey day of Black Wall Street, users can toggle historic images taken in the same location on and off to compare.
Gaussian Splats Technology: Real-world scans of Tulsa’s present-day landmarks, captured via Niantic Scaniverse, are converted into immersive 3D portals, preserving historical accuracy while ensuring smooth AR integration.
Tap-to-Place Mechanic: A first-of-its-kind feature developed within Niantic Studio, allowing users to place and interact with the AR experience in any real-world space.
Niantic Studio Spaces: Supports multiple AR portals, enabling seamless transitions between different historical locations and events.
Historical Image Toggle: A unique interactive slider lets users compare current-day Tulsa with historic photographs, providing a direct visual contrast between past and present.
Historical Context: Captions for each location allows users to dive into the historical context for each place.
Augmented reality is reshaping the future of education, making learning more interactive, accessible, and engaging. By bringing history to life through 3D environments, interactive overlays, and immersive storytelling, AR enables students and lifelong learners to experience events and locations as if they were really there. This approach enhances historical empathy, retention, and engagement, offering a deeper connection to the past than traditional textbooks or static images ever could.
With projects like Black Wall Street: Then and Now, AR is proving to be a powerful tool for cultural preservation, historical education, and interactive learning.
