Gary King, Jr. Augmented Reality Mural
Gary King Jr. Augmented Reality Mural (2017) is a justice-centered project honoring the life of Gary King Jr., who was killed by Oakland police in 2007. Using augmented reality, the project restores a community mural originally painted in his memory but later erased from public view. By layering digital artwork back onto the wall, the AR experience invites viewers to engage with his story beyond physical space. This work weaves together memory, justice, and technology, transforming collective grief into visibility, reflection, and dialogue about how memory endures as our cities change.
The project was created in Unity3d.
In 2007, my friend Gary King Jr. was shot and killed by an Oakland police officer. A beautiful mural was painted in his honor at the site of the shooting, underneath the BART tracks. I would drive by it every day. But in 2009, after the murder of Oscar Grant, BART painted over the mural.
Here is the original memorial mural painted by artist Paul Barron in 2007. Next to it, the mural being removed and painted over in 2009.
Project Background
In 2017, the original pillar where the mural used to stand was completely painted over. I wanted to figure out how I could use technology to put the mural back in its original place.
Having learned how to create augmented reality in the gaming software Unity3D, I was able to use the poster on the pillar as an image target, so when my smart phone recognized the image, it would lay Gary’s memorial mural on top of it.
Here is the mural in 2007, how it looked 10 years later, and then what it looks like with the augmented reality activated.
Project Process
This original app prototype was released on the Google Play Store on the 10 year anniversary of Gary’s murder. It is currently no longer active but I would like to utilize the advancements of augmented reality technology to continue with this project in the future.
Project Outcome
