The Chicago 00 Project has released a sneak peek of their upcoming an augmented and virtual reality experience, The 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, to be published in early 2020.

A partnership between the Chicago History Museum and filmmaker Geoffrey Alan Rhodes, the Chicago 00 Project has been producing a series of interactive multimedia experiences using historical images of important sites and events in Chicago. Their augmented reality app allows participant to overlay historic photos with real-time views at the site of the 1915 SS Eastland disaster on the Chicago River. Other projects showcase film, photo, and sound archival materials for a virtual reality experience of Chicago’s 1933 World’s Fair and the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

Chicago00: World’s Columbian Exposition will focus on the Midway Plaisance, site of the entertainment district of the 1893 World’s Fair, where millions of visitors explored international villages, thrill rides, and displays of science and cultures.

They report that the experience “will follow this path, from the White City (today, the site of Jackson Park), along the Midway Plaisance, and up onto the Ferris Wheel, while a narrator contextualizes the then-and-now of this third star on the Chicago flag.”

Chicago 00 recently posted two previews on their Facebook page. The first image shows a 360-degree view from 210 feet above Jackson Park in 2019 combined with a famous view from the roof of the Manufacturers and Liberal Arts Building in 1893. The second 360-degree vista looks out from a car on the original Ferris Wheel high above the Midway Plaisance.

Chicago00: World’s Columbian Exposition is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

A now-and-then view from the roof of the Manufacturers and Liberal Arts Building from the Chicago 00 Project.

A view from the Ferris Wheel (looking north) from the Chicago 00 Project.

A view from the Ferris Wheel (looking south) from the Chicago 00 Project.