The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame and Ideum collaborated to create the Immersive Design Room, an interactive and immersive experience that brings the Museum’s collection items to life. Visitors are invited to design their own western objects and see their environment change right before their eyes. The exhibit uses multiple projectors blended together to create a living tapestry that surrounds visitors. A touch table located in the middle of the room serves as the design workstation for multiple visitors to work at a time.
Visitors are first presented with a menu to select from a boot, a shirt ,and a horse statue. Once visitors select an object, they are presented with design options. Visitors select colors, patterns, and textures to design their custom object.
The designs available for visitors to choose from were lifted from a selection of the Museum’s collections. Designs were selected based on the stories behind the artifacts, the uniqueness of the design, and the overall cohesiveness the design would have within the full experience. Some of the final design selections include pieces worn by Cowgirl Hall of Fame Honorees like Fern Sawyer, Tad Lucas, and Connie Douglas Reeves. Throughout the application there are opportunities for visitors to learn more about the designs.
Because the designs selected represent a wide range of western fashion and time periods, Ideum designers digitized the artifact selections by meticulously illustrating all of the selected designs and processing them into 3D textures and stylized projection displays
As visitors make selections on their objects, the projected images change around them. Stylized designs come to life around the visitors, animating and moving around the projection. A back-end system was developed to translate user selections into a digital tapestry that utilizes different design elements and colors. Although each boot and shirt from the Museum’s collections has a unique style and design, western wear as a whole represents the spirit and scenery of the American West. The imagery of cacti, stars, horses, and flowers come together to paint a beautiful scene. When a visitors is happy with their designed object, they can select finish to see their object revealed larger than life on the wall.
