MILLEDGEVILLE, GEORGIA, UNITED STATES, August 22, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- Andalusia, the Georgia farmstead of Flannery O’Connor, is partnering with tech leader ARtGlass to offer guests augmented reality (AR) walking tours. The influential 20th-century southern Gothic author penned much of her work at the National Historic Landmark owned by Georgia College & State University (GCSU).

GCSU’s Department of Historic Museums will use ARtGlass’ field-leading TourBuilder software suite to enrich site interpretation. The self-guided experiences on smartphones will overlay visitors’ real-world views with digital content, including 360-degree architectural recreations, holograms of historical figures, and 3D artifacts.

The groundbreaking initiative comes on the tailwinds of the March 2023 opening of the $3.5M Andalusia Interpretive Center, which offers creative opportunities for O'Connor scholars and enthusiasts alike.

Matt Davis, Director of Historic Museums at GCSU, remarked, “The AR tour will be a time-machine, providing immersive storytelling and unprecedented access to some of our fourteen buildings, our collections, and insights about O’Connor herself.”

“We believe in AR’s power to make history exciting and increase visitation, which preserves amazing sites like Andalusia,” said Greg Werkheiser, ARtGlass Cofounder and CEO.

ARtGlass Premier Partner, BES Studios, will help create the AR content. “The creative and educational tools TourBuilder offers us, as storytellers, are unparalleled—it’s a new frontier for tourism,” stated Richard Bailey, BES Executive Producer.

GCSU sought out ARtGlass for its strong historical interpretation track record and for the ease of updating the tours to capture emerging stories about site restoration efforts, future exhibits, or special programs.

Andalusia’s visitors will enjoy AR tours beginning in Spring 2024. The experiences will be included in the standard $7 admission price.

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Contacts
Matt Davis
Director of Historic Museums
Georgia College & State University
matt.david@gcsu.edu
478.445.4545

Lauren Jensen
Chief Commercial Officer
ARtGlass
Lauren@artglassgroup.com
770.815.9465

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Andalusia: The Home of Flannery O’Connor
Andalusia served as the home of famed American author Flannery O’Connor from 1951-1964. Andalusia Farm was designated a National Historic Landmark on Feb. 24, 2022. Situated four miles northwest of the city of Milledgeville in Baldwin County, Georgia, the property includes the house where O’Connor lived, as well as agricultural buildings, tenant houses, a livestock pond, fields, and forests. The surrounding environment appeared in her stories, which include "Good Country People," "A Circle in the Fire" and "The Displaced Person." A peacock aviary Flannery kept is still on the property, and the birds figure prominently in her work. Preservation efforts are ongoing, and archaeological research is conducted through annual digs. In August 2017, the Georgia College and State University accepted the donation of Andalusia. The estate is currently maintained by The Andalusia Foundation, Inc. Visit www.gcsu.edu/andalusia.

ARtGlass
ARtGlass’ software and suite of services enables historic and cultural sites to fully build and deploy visually stunning, unique, and engaging AR experiences across smartglasses, phones, and tablets, in both guided and self-guided formats, indoors and outdoors, with or without Wi-Fi. The company, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia with satellite offices in Milan, Italy, has helped clients thrill more than 4 million visitors to venues as diverse as fine art museums, presidential plantations, mountaintop castle ruins, World Heritage archaeological sites, product launches, and tradeshows. ARtGlass aims to empower cultural sites and attractions to distinguish their visitor experience, thrill new and returning guests, and increase revenue. Visit www.artglassgroup.com.

BES Studios
BES Studios creates the content inside many ARtGlass tours. For over 27 years, BES Studios has been harnessing the power of storytelling to craft rich stories that engage, grow, inform, and entertain viewers. BES Studios provides a full suite of professional production services including motion picture, television, commercial broadcast, and video production, Virtual and Augmented Reality production, audio production, and web-based digital media. Their veteran, award-winning, in-house team ensures every production, no matter how large or small, is successful. Visit www.besstudios.com.

Lauren Jensen
ARtGlass
+1 770-815-9465
lauren@artglassgroup.com

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