Envision is proud to announce an updated release of the Who Are the People? Augmented Reality (AR) mobile application put out by the US Architect of the Capitol. Through a follow-on contract, Envision, under US AOC guidance, designed and developed this update in addition to prior original development. The application now features a redesigned and improved User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) as well as the addition of the following statues (in bold):

Abraham Lincoln
Amelia Earhart
Chief Standing Bear
Frederick Douglass
Harry Truman
Helen Keller
John Swigert, Jr.
Kamehameha I
Mary McLeod Bethune
Portrait Monument
Sarah Winnemucca
Sojourner Truth
Statue of Freedom
Willa Cather

In the mid-1800s, Rep. Justin S. Morrill of Vermont saw cobwebs and envisioned beauty. He suggested that states donate statues to create a “useful and grand” display of notable Americans. Today this National Statuary Hall Collection is part of the statuary that graces public spaces throughout the U.S. Capitol and the Capitol Visitor Center.

Now you can fill your room with some of these statues. Download our augmented reality application, Who Are the People?, to interact with the statues in 3D or explore the posts below to learn more about the individuals featured in this experience. You can download the Who Are the People? AR experience from your preferred app store:

Envision has entered another follow-on contract with US AOC and is in the process of designing and developing experiences for additional statues to come.

Envision has received praise from the New Jersey School Boards Association for its VR development of several applications used throughout various Votech High Schools in New Jersey including Burlington County Institute of Technology (BCIT). The article can be found here!

Please see the below video produced by BCIT about our forensic crime scene simulator now used in the Law and Public Safety curriculum.

Envision is proud to announce our selection for Phase III of the Virtual Reality (VR) cybersecurity facility for the National Security Agency’s (NSA) schoolhouse known as the National Centers of Academic Excellence-Cybersecurity (NCAE-C). The VR project is funded by a NSA NCAE-C grant through the NIST NICE infrastructure comprised of several colleges across the US including Moraine Valley Community College, Brookdale Community College, Forsyth Technical Community College, Florida State College at Jacksonville, Cal Poly Pomona, Eastern New Mexico University Ruidoso, and San Antonio College.

Envision completed phase II last year (2003) which featured student data collection capabilities for instructors and a 2D web version (HTML5) of the cyber facility which mirrors the VR facility. The web and VR applications are now deployed within the NSA NCAE-C Regions Investing in the Next Generation (RING) program which reaches over 400 schools in the US—bringing our cyber facility to the hands of hundreds of thousands of students users.

Envision is proud to announce that they’ve been chosen to develop eight more statues for the Augmented Reality (AR) application, called “Who Are the People?” available on the Apple and Google app stores. These eight statues will be in addition to the six statues currently present on the application. Estimated completion is by the end of 2024.

The current AR application can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play from the following links:

Envision is proud to announce that the US Architect of the Capitol has launched Who Are the People?, an Augmented Reality (AR) application developed by Envision, for the Capitol. Statues in the Capitol collection reflect the history of our country. Download Who Are the People? below (for iOS or Android) and use your phone’s camera to see these statues in 3D with AR.

Engage with interactive content to learn about these individuals and the artists who commemorated them. See Helen Keller, King Kamehameha, Jack Swigert, Sojourner Truth, Sarah Winnemucca, and the Statue of Freedom in a new way!

Inside the app, users can resize, rotate, and walk around each statue to explore the sculpture up close. After completing special activities, users will engage with app “rewards” such as haptic technology that makes mobile phones vibrate or unique multimedia experiences. For example, the activity featuring NASA astronaut John “Jack” Swigert, Jr., includes the actual recording of Swigert’s historic radio message to the control room during the Apollo 13 mission. Users can also learn information about the artists who sculpted each historical figure from the Curator for the Architect of the Capitol. The AR app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play from the following links:

“We leveraged cutting-edge photogrammetry, modeling, and eXtended Reality (XR) game engine development technologies to bring you an incredibly real and immersive experience, wherever you’re at,” said Envision Director of Technology, Jonathan Carr.

“Envision’s AR technology immerses users in an interactive experience that tells the stories of diverse American heroes featured at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center,” said Envision President and CEO, Alexander Cortez, Jr. “We see a lot of potential for AR in the tourism industry, particularly for museums where visitors want to learn more about exhibits before, during, and after their trip.”

Envision is proud to announce our selection to develop a Virtual Reality (VR) Simulator for Mercer County Technical School’s Law and Public Safety Program, for use in its forensic science course administered at the MCTS Sypek Center in Pennington, NJ. Up until now, MCTS’s forensic science courses utilized a physical room containing physical props and mannequins to simulate forensic crime scenes. This configuration results in the following issues:

1. It is challenging to use physical simulation while attempting to convey an actual realistic crime scene. Lots of real-world distractions are not reproduced for the student trainee.
2. It is challenging to replicate fatal injuries and wounds to the point where it actually desensitizes student trainees who will likely encounter nauseating “shock factor” circumstances at a forensic crime scene.
3. Physical classroom forensic simulation is open to distractions from other students, general school noise, hallway noise, etc.

Envision will develop a unique and immersive VR forensic crime scene and a forensic crime lab experience. The VR crime scene will feature rich and complex 360-degree 3D background environment with ultra-realistic color, texturing, lighting, shadowing, and noise.

Envision will implement an innovative menu system of tools for the VR investigator to use such as an in-VR experience camera, a magnifying glass, crime scene tape to measure and cut, proper evidence containers for both wet and dry evidence, measuring devices, ground chalk, headlamp, gloves, cast trays, casting material, and other “red herring” distractions. The user will access this tool menu using innovative VR info panels. The VR experience will be 6 Degrees of Freedom (6Dof) which will allow the user to physically walk around within a pre-defined physical barrier space to collect evidence.

Once the user has collected all of the evidence, they will proceed to the VR forensic crime lab. Inside the VR crime lab, the user will be presented with a different set of tools such as ultraviolet fingerprint flashlights, memory card readers, DNA storage bins, and a virtual PC to view the photographs they took while in the VR experience. Students will analyze evidence such as tire skid marks, off-road tire imprints (cast modeling), and then formulate a conclusive automotive make, model, etc. using classroom-taught forensic analysis. All actions of the entire VR forensic simulator experience will be logged and sent to the instructor for post-exercise evaluation.

The VR experience will convey an immersive and realistic forensic crime scene experience for the student trainee. They will be exposed to unsightly gore that they will someday likely encounter at a real forensic crime scene. They will be shut off from outside distraction—keeping them highly focused on their experience and tasking which ultimately will increase knowledge retention and student examination performance.

Envision is proud to announce our selection for Phase II of the Virtual Reality (VR) cybersecurity facility for the National Security Agency’s (NSA) schoolhouse known as the National Centers of Academic Excellence-Cybersecurity (NCAE-C). The VR project is funded by a NSA NCAE-C grant through the NIST NICE infrastructure comprised of several colleges across the US including Moraine Valley Community College, Brookdale Community College, Forsyth Technical Community College, Florida State College at Jacksonville, Cal Poly Pomona, Eastern New Mexico University Ruidoso, and San Antonio College.

Envision completed phase I last year (2001) which featured a three floor seven room VR cyber facility with avatars, realistic room roles, and flags for student users to collect. Phase II will feature student data collection capabilities for instructors and a 2D web version (HTML5) of the cyber facility that will mirror the VR facility. The web and VR applications will be deployed within the NSA NCAE-C Regions Investing in the Next Generation (RING) program which will reach over 400 schools in the US—bringing our cyber facility to the hands of tens of thousands of students.

The application will offer a realistic immersive experience for students interested in entering the STEM field of cybersecurity. Users will explore room-by-room to discover employee roles, educational pathways, and flags hidden throughout the facility—which better prepare students what to expect when they graduate with a cybersecurity focus and enter the workforce. Envision is very excited about the future of this project.