Belfast-based immersive-tech studio RETìníZE recently completed an app in collaboration with Carol Moore, Gwen Stevenson, & Dr. Margaret Morgan.
Titled Lilian Bland: Learning to Fly, the objective of the project was to create a mobile-based AR application that teaches children elements of physics and forces involved in flying an airplane. The AR experience was inspired by Carol Moore’s Flying (currently in the form of a one-woman play), about Lilian Bland’s aviation achievement in being the first woman to design, build, and fly her own airplane.
Lilian Bland: Learning to Fly is a cross-platform (Apple and Android) mobile-phone app that provides a simple and fun way to learn the forces of flying, using augmented reality. Create your own flying experience with Lilian Bland, the central character of the app. Debunking social and gender norms, Lilian was the first woman in the world to design, build and fly her own airplane, ‘Mayfly’.
A 3D animated Lilian Bland explains how the forces of flying helped her create aviation history in 1910 in County Antrim. This fun learning experience intertwines the key elements of gaming, storytelling, physics, math, and history.
● Make an airplane fly with Lilian Bland
● Learn the forces of flying through gaming
● Build and customize your own airplane, and have it fly in augmented reality
Project Team:
Jack Morrow, Chief Technology Officer
Jamie McRoberts, Senior Product Manager
John Connor, Unity Developer
David Cosgrove, Post Production Lead
Alan Perry, 3D Modeler
Elizabeth Khorrami, Business Development
Nicky Harley, Voice Over Artist (Voice of Lilian Bland)
Carol Moore, Writer
Dr. Margaret Morgan, Ulster University & Gwen Stevenson, Researchers & Engineers
Dr. Declan Keeney, Future Screens Co-Investigator
The project was funded by a R&D award from Future Screens NI.