Canada’s last WWI veteran died more than a decade ago and less than 20,000 WW2 veterans are alive today. With fewer living veterans and the growing public apathy towards their memories, the stories of veterans are fading away along with people’s personal connection to the past.

This November (2022), Ancestry decided to show Canadians the wealth of wartime stories waiting to be uncovered in an “empty” art gallery, with some help from Molly Lamb Bobak – the first Canadian female war artist and active member of the military. With a permission and help from the Canadian War Museum, 17 selected war paintings of her were turned into an interactive AR experience, allowing people to feel, see, and learn about the wartime history. While keeping Canadian history from fading away, this “empty” art gallery was also aiming to drive curiosity and inspire visitors to uncover and preserve their own family history through Ancestry.

Each visitor was given a tablet with a headset allowing them to scan the entrance QR code and proceed to a specifically designed website. Then, attendees were encouraged to walk around the gallery full of “empty” frames, scanning each frame with an AR app embedded in the website, to reveal the hidden paintings.

Once the painting appeared in the frame, spectators were able to walk around the objects inside of it, explore the scene, experience special ambient sounds, and listen to a story describing the history behind the painting.

Each artwork was carefully treated, layered, and prepared to be embedded into an AR app. To make the whole experience seamless, we had to ensure we leave no gaps behind each layer, and, with respect to the author, scenes behind the layers were recreated using particles of the existing painting.