Pushing the boundaries of the traditional exhibition format, Dr. Nweeia wanted to engage museum-goers in an immersive way. “For a long time, museums have been stagnant. There is an object and you observe that object. It’s not truly interactive,” he says. He teamed up with Erin Henninger, executive director of Case Western Reserve’s Interactive Commons, a division in charge of developing mixed reality applications that encourage and enhance group learning and research.

Together, Dr. Nweeia and Henninger studied museum visitor habits and their interactions within exhibits. In a massive museum like the Smithsonian, it can be hard to get people’s attention. “It’s no longer enough to just put something cool or interesting on a wall,” Dr. Nweeia says. To tell the narwhal’s story in a new way, they knew that the HoloLens would be the perfect vehicle.

“What AR allows you to do is have an immersive experience. When you put on the HoloLens and you’re under the ice, it’s a whole different thing from being in an exhibit hall,” says Dr. Nweeia.

And not only does this mixed reality technology reinvigorate the museum experience, but “it also makes you want to learn more. It makes places like an arctic environment, that most people will never get to experience first-hand, feel more accessible and less abstract,” adds Henninger.