“We have thousands of objects in the museum, and one of the things you can’t do is touch them. Without touching them, it’s very hard to ignite your senses, get excited about them, and really learn about them because you’re only a spectator,” says Michael Bodell, Deputy Director at the Petersen. “By using mixed reality, people are actually able to open up the hood and go inside the car.”

For the HoloLens, engineers at app design and development firm Zengalt took actual museum floor plans, virtual Ford GT cars, and photos to recreate the space to precision. They then used spatial mapping, sharing, and sound to position the experience within the real world of the museum.

The result is an exhibit that’s the first of its kind, blending mixed reality storytelling with real-life artifacts on the museum floor. This was an essential part of the experience, says Bodell, because visitors can “continue to look at the object as the story continues to unfold. Your attention always stays where we want it to stay, which is on the story that we curated.”