As we reported back in May, Digitas, UNIT9, and the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library Foundation are jointly releasing JFK Moonshot, an augmented reality (AR) documentary app experience in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. The app is available for iOS and Android.
“Whether they remember watching the Moon launch or were learning about it for the first time, we made a historic event accessible to people of all ages,” said UNIT9 in a blog post. “The app honored President Kennedy’s forward-thinking vision and rounded out a year-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Moonshot.”
The app aims to provide users with educational content that brings experiences surrounding the events of the Apollo 11 mission, such as archival footage about the journey to the Moon, AR games with leaderboards, and 100+ hours of travel data from NASA that tracks the mission in real-time. Users can also launch a full scale, 363 foot replica of the Saturn V rocket that brought mankind to the Moon. On July 16th, the 50th anniversary of the launch, users can experience a “virtual Moon launch” in the app and follow the Saturn V five-day journey from Earth to the Moon.
“We found original and inventive ways to use today’s media and technology to help a new generation understand this unprecedented feat of ingenuity, teamwork, and perseverance,” said Amber Harris, vice president and executive producer at Digitas.
AR’s use as an educational tool can provide a sense of scale and relevancy to people that engage with these experiences, which the National Museum of the US Air Force used to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy and San Antonio International Airport used to teach travelers about the Alamo.
