Verizon and Cooper Hewitt Call on Innovators to Create Interactive Museum Experiences

What you need to know:

• Verizon sponsors a Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum competition that commissions creative technologists to build tools that introduce exciting new digital museum interactions
• Immersive educational experiences that bring to life many Smithsonian collection objects are available today from Verizon
• Verizon Media’s Immersive enables students to use QR codes to launch these Augmented Reality (AR) exhibits at home or on the go
  
  

NEW YORK, Oct. 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Verizon and Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum’s , are calling on creators and technology entrepreneurs to build interactive tools that redefine the way people visit, interact with and learn from museums. Launching later this fall, Activating Smithsonian Open Access will award $10,000 commissions to up to six teams to build working prototypes. Using 2D and 3D digitized collection objects from the Smithsonian Open Access Initiative, the selected teams will develop experiences with support from Verizon, Cooper Hewitt, and industry mentors and be given the opportunity to develop and test their applications at Verizon’s 5G Labs. With COVID-19 making physical distance the new norm, Cooper Hewitt will look to continue developing successful prototypes to be integrated into the museum’s digital offerings, as remote extensions of the museum-going experience.

“As our first public commissioning venture for the Interaction Lab, we’re thrilled to be supporting independent creators and teams in creating new digital tools and immersive experiences with Smithsonian's incredible library of Open Access collections. Not only does this offer new approaches to engaging new audiences, but also represents a new way of working at Cooper Hewitt,” says Carolyn Royston, Cooper Hewitt’s Chief Experience Officer.

Verizon Launches AR Museum Experience

Verizon has already utilized the Smithsonian Open Access Initiative’s collection to aid parents, students and teachers looking for new and engaging educational content. Verizon is offering a first wave of content that brings to life artifacts housed across Smithsonian’s network of museums and galleries. Verizon’s and RYOT, Verizon Media’s next generation immersive studio, used augmented reality (AR) and narrated audio to complement 3D assets made available to the public by the Smithsonian.

You can now point your phone or tablet at a QR code, and the museum artifact will virtually jump out of your device onto the table. Imagine learning all about how the woolly mammoth became extinct while walking around its skeleton in 3D from various angles. The first wave of Verizon’s experiences also includes content and artifacts about Hellen Keller, Anne Sullivan, the Wright Flyer, and a Supernova to name a few. These next gen content experiences, created by Verizon Media Immersive - the largest online XR platform for advertising and content, powered by 5G - can be accessed via webAR by visiting  and which will feature a special QR code to place the museum artifact in one’s space.

“Whether kids have returned to the classroom or are remote learning, we need to think of new ways technology can help them engage with educational content,” said Sanyogita Shamsunder, Vice President of Technology Development and 5G Labs at Verizon. “Activating Smithsonian Open Access is a great step forward toward immersive, interactive, and remote experiences made with the creative community. Verizon’s new AR museum sets the stage for even more amazing enhancements when paired with the massive bandwidth and low latency of Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network.” Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband is now available in parts of 55 cities.

Moving the World Forward Though Action

Verizon recently unveiled its  which includes an education platform geared towards grades K-12 that will address the new hybrid learning models emerging from COVID-19. The platform will support district leaders, teachers, parents and students; enhance teacher resources with a focus on remote learning and expert tech guidance for districts; provide parents with digital literacy training; and offer engaging content for under-resourced youth.

Learn more about .

About Verizon

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) was formed on June 30, 2000 and is celebrating its 20th year as one of the world’s leading providers of technology, communications, information and entertainment products and services. Headquartered in New York City and with a presence around the world, Verizon generated revenues of $131.9 billion in 2019. The company offers data, video and voice services and solutions on its award-winning networks and platforms, delivering on customers’ demand for mobility, reliable network connectivity, security and control.

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About Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Cooper Hewitt is America’s design museum. Inclusive, innovative and experimental, the museum’s dynamic exhibitions, education programs, master’s program, publications and online resources inspire, educate and empower people through design. An integral part of the Smithsonian Institution—the world’s largest museum, education and research complex—Cooper Hewitt is located on New York City’s Museum Mile in the historic, landmark Carnegie Mansion. Steward of one of the world’s most diverse and comprehensive design collections—over 210,000 objects that range from an ancient Egyptian faience cup dating to about 1100 BC to contemporary 3D-printed objects and digital code—Cooper Hewitt welcomes everyone to discover the importance of design and its power to change the world. Cooper Hewitt knits digital into experiences to enhance ideas, extend reach beyond museum walls and enable greater access, personalization, experimentation and connection.

The Interaction Lab is an embedded R&D program driving the reimagining of Cooper Hewitt’s audience experience, across digital, physical, and human interactions. Since its Fall 2019 launch, the Lab has injected new ideas into the museum’s work through internal workshopping and strategy, an extremely successful public program series merging interactive design and museum practice, and a commissioning program that engages the design community as creative collaborators in creating the next wave of the Cooper Hewitt experience.

Media Contacts:

Chris Ashraf 



201.320.4259

Twitter: @ChrisMoonPR

Laurie Bohlk

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum