Echoes of Bronze
Jinlan Huang
Advisor: Kari Love
This project reimagines how museum visitors engage with ancient Chinese bronze vessels by using augmented reality to reveal their symbolic language—unfolding layers of ritual, myth, and memory through interactive animations and spatial storytelling.
Project Description
Echoes of Bronze was inspired by close study of ancient bronze vessels in The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s East Asian collection. Despite historical richness, many of these objects remain challenging to decipher—obscured by patina, time, and fixed display. Their meanings often go unspoken, their stories buried beneath the surface.
This project seeks to bridge that gap.
Through an AR-based guide designed for in-gallery use, visitors can scan a bronze vessel and reveal animated scenes that bring to life its form, function, and cultural significance. Motifs like dragons, phoenixes, and taotie masks unfold from the bronze surface, revealing ancient stories of power, spirituality, and ritual. By layering digital insight atop physical artifacts, the experience transforms passive observation into a moment of discovery and connection.
Technical Details
The experience is built using Unity and Vuforia ARKit, with an interface designed in Figma to guide users through intuitive interactions. Visitors begin by scanning a tag next to a real vessel, which triggers a 3D model overlaid in space. Animated elements—designed and rigged in Maya—reveal the symbolic and functional anatomy of the object, from ceremonial lids to zoomorphic handles.
Through attention to interaction design, the AR guide invites users to zoom in on fine details, tap on labeled parts, and explore curated narratives. The seamless integration of AR and UX design ensures that visitors can fluidly navigate between artifact and story, enriching their understanding of both.
Research/Context
Building on an increasing range of projects at the crossroads of immersive tech and culture, Echoes of Bronze follows developments at "Story of the Forest" in Singapore's National Museum, where AR can turn still images into living stories. REVIVRE, at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, shows digital reconstruction of vanished environments. Felice Grodin's "Invasive Species" at the Pérez Art Museum shows AR interventions in exhibition space, and historical site rebuilds by the British Museum provide visitors with access to ceremonial pasts. These precedents have shaped both technical structure and narrative approaches of my work.