Memory Space

XR Developer
Mobile & Environmental Media Lab
September 2023 - May 2024

In 1933, the demolition of the original Los Angeles Chinatown for the construction of Union Station displaced the LA Chinese community. Memory Space is a WebXR experience that allows users to explore a geospatially accurate recreation of the original Chinatown in its final days to spread awareness and to commemorate it. Users embark on an engaging narrative AR experience that follows the story of two real figures: Peter Soo Hoo Sr. and David Lee whom recount their lives in Old Chinatown. Volumetric live performance capture techniques bring Peter and David to life as photoreal 3D AR characters. As a grand finale, users interact with an LLM-powered character in the form of a peacock, a wise and culturally significant symbol in Chinese culture, which verbally communicates with users and imbues them with an uplifting parting message. Please check out the Memory Space website and experiences linked below.

Awards

• Niantic 2024 Time Capsule Challenge Grand Prize Winner
• Memory Space has just been awarded third phase funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and will continue to be developed into an even more feature-rich experience.

Accomplishments

• Assisted live volumetric captures of actors portraying Peter Soo Hoo Sr. and David Lee and integrated them into our 8th Wall experience via Arcturus HoloStream
• Prototyped a Niantic ARDK Unity-based version of Memory Space as a proof of concept to compare performance and features with the 8th Wall version
• General XR development, optimization, and debugging for WebXR, much of which was done during an unstable period in the 8th Wall platform's maturity

Partners

• Huntington-USC Institute on California & the West
• Chinese Historical Society of Southern California
• Metro Art
• Niantic 8th Wall
• Arcturus Studio
• Metastage

Tools Used

• 8th Wall
• Inworld AI
• Arcturus HoloSuite
• Unity
• Niantic ARDK + Lightship