Augmented Reality App Brings Penn State’s Obelisk Monument to Life

An augmented reality mobile app will serve as an educational tool for the oldest monument on Penn State’s main campus.

Developers in Penn State’s Department of Geography created an AR app to give users information about every little detail of the Obelisk — a 33-foot tall structure nestled in between the Willard and Sackett Buildings alongside Pattee Mall.

“There’s a database connected to each stone,” Arif Masrur, a doctoral student in the Department of Geography, said in a release. “So whenever you touch any stone in the app, you can see where it came from, how old it is, and other information.”

Augmented reality, for the unfamiliar, is an interactive method of giving users information about a certain item or structure. Users can point their phone’s camera at anything and an interactive 3-D rendering of the subject shows up on their screen. In this case, information about specific rocks and materials used in the construction of the Obelisk pop up on either side of the rendering, giving some brief background on the stone type and where it originated.

The Department of Geography offered a visual demonstration of the app in use on Friday.

The app gives much detailed information, but Masrur — who worked on the project with geography professor Alexander Klippel and senior research associate for the Department of Geography Jan Oliver Wallgrün — has big plans to expand the its features in the future.

“Eventually our goal is to also include 360-degree photos of the actual environment from where each rock was excavated,” Masrur said.