Black Wall Street: Then and Now

Niantic

Concept
Personal Project
To honor Black History Month 2025, ROSE Digital collaborated with Niantic and 8th Wall to create Black Wall Street: Then and Now. I was brought on as Art Director to create an immersive WebAR experience designed to bring the history of Tulsa’s Greenwood District to life. Showcasing the capabilities of Niantic’s newest technologies - including Niantic Studio, Scaniverse, Gaussian Splats, and Studio Spaces - this project transforms the way users engage with historical narratives through augmented reality.
Role

Art Director

UX Designer

UI Designer

Created
Timeline
February 2025
Tools

Figma

Blender

Platform(s)
Effect House | TikTok
Meta Spark | Instagram
8th Wall | WebAR
Lens Studio | Snap
iOS
Android
Web
Stats + Awards
Black Wall Street: Then and Now is a WebAR experience that transports users through time, offering a powerful glimpse into the past and present of Tulsa’s historic Greenwood District. By stepping into an AR portal, users are placed in present-day Tulsa, visualized using 3D Gaussian splats. To reflect on the legacy of Black Wall Street, the experience allows users to toggle between archival photographs and their current surroundings, positioning the historical images directly over the modern landscape. This layered interaction creates a striking comparison between the Greenwood District’s vibrant heyday and its present-day form.
The core features of this experience include Gaussian Splats, Tap-to-Place Mechanics, and Niantic Studio Spaces. With Gaussian Splats Technology, we captured real-world scans of Tulsa’s present-day landmarks, via Niantic Scaniverse, which were then converted into immersive 3D portals, preserving historical accuracy while ensuring smooth AR integration. The Tap-to-Place Mechanic is a first-of-its-kind feature developed within Niantic Studio, allowing users to place and interact with the AR experience in any real-world space. Niantic Studio Spaces supports multiple AR portals, enabling seamless transitions between different historical locations and events. Within each space, a historical image toggle lets users compare current-day Tulsa with historic photographs, providing a direct visual contrast between past and present. Historical context provides captions for each location, allowing users to dive into the historical context for each place.
Augmented reality is redefining how we learn and connect with history by transforming static information into dynamic, immersive experiences. Through the use of 3D environments, interactive overlays, and spatial storytelling, AR enables users to explore historical moments as if they were unfolding around them. This creative use of technology not only deepens engagement but also fosters empathy and curiosity in new ways. Black Wall Street: Then and Now exemplifies how immersive tech can be used as a tool for cultural preservation and education.