Case Study: Smithsonian achieves award-winning mobile AR engagement with Adobe

The Smithsonian, The Hydrous, and Adobe collaborate on the award-winning AR Reef project

Smithsonian faced the challenge of making its vast coral collection and ocean science content more accessible and emotionally engaging for the public, especially during a time when museums and schools were closed. Working with Adobe and The Hydrous, the Smithsonian used its 3D scans of coral specimens and Adobe Creative Cloud for enterprise plus Adobe Substance 3D Collection to help create an AR Reef experience that could bring underwater environments to life on mobile devices.

Adobe helped implement an immersive, science-based augmented reality story with optimized 3D assets, realistic textures, and interactive triggers, narration, sound, and infographics. The result was an award-winning experience that won a Webby and multiple Anthem Awards and was experienced by more than 10K people, while also improving mobile AR performance and expanding access to Smithsonian specimens for education and outreach.

Smithsonian