Billy Durant AR Experience

The Sloan Museum of Discovery’s History Gallery tells the story of Flint’s present day, and future possibility, by tying it to its remarkable past. The Billy Durant AR artifactse worksartifactsm with gallery artifacts to make Flint’s history accessible, engaging, and deeply human. General Motors founder Billy Durant helped put Flint on the map as the birthplace of the automotive industry. In this augmented reality experience, visitors step into the role of a Flint Journal reporter to interview Durant for a first-person account of this transformative time. This exhibit brings the large scale artifacts, like cars and carriages, in this gallery to life by connecting them to a resonant, human story. 


A historical reenactor appears on a transparent, touch-sensitive OLED screen. Visitors choose a topic to get the conversation started—from Flint’s evolution into an industrial hub to the triumphs and challenges of Durant’s career. Visitors continue the interview by selecting follow up questions, actively connecting to and uncovering history. This installation ties Flint’s big-picture history to the people who lived it. By pairing physical artifacts with a one-on-one exchange, it brings the city’s industrial rise into sharper focus and roots the story in the voice and vision of one of its earliest builders.