IBM | Hidden Figures — NICOLE JAMES

Using augmented reality to rewrite history for a more inclusive world.

The film Hidden Figures highlights three women of color whose contributions were written out of history because they did not fit the politics of popular science, but they’re just the tip of a very large iceberg. Many crucial inventions came from black, brown, or female inventors who went without historical credit. IBM wanted to rectify this - but how do you celebrate people who have been written out of history, and give them the credit, glory, and monuments they deserve?

We created our Hidden Figures augmented reality campaign to give names, faces, and voices to important figures who had been left out or forgotten, working with primary historical researchers to develop rich and original profiles on each of them. We used this original research to create historically-accurate AR monuments to these people which were placed at museums, educational institutions, and public spaces nationwide. Each AR marker was able to trigger a visible monument, audio stories about the person’s life and accomplishments, photos of them, and links to more information, giving the new generation of STEM students a whole new cast of diverse role models to look up to.