The Sutro Baths, a massive ocean-fed swimming complex, was a popular attraction in San Francisco, drawing thousands of visitors after opening in 1896. Designed by Adolph Sutro, the baths featured seven pools, a glass enclosure, and various amenities like slides, springboards, and a high dive.
The complex was known for its impressive scale, accommodating up to 10,000 people and offering a variety of entertainment options, including entertainment and displays. The baths were destroyed by fire in 1966 and the site is now a preserved ruin in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
Award Winning
This AR project won an award in December 2023 in a contest by Google to either use Geospatial Creator to build an augmented reality experience in Adobe Aero or Unity, or use Photorealistic 3D Tiles to create a 3D virtual, immersive experience.
Winner AR | Best of Travel & Local Discovery
Watch the Video
The Experience
Our AR tour guides you around a reconstruction of the Sutro Baths historic landmark at the site of its ruins in San Francisco. Learn, view photographs, and interact with the 3D model as you explore!
Our application guides the user through the Sutro Baths historical landmark using an illuminated walking path, information panels with text and images, and a 3D rendering of how the Sutro Baths swimming pool complex would appear to those attending. Simple sliders and toggles in the app allow users to interact with the 3D models, revealing hidden components and changes over time.
We built the application using Unity 2022 LTS and the Geospatial Creator and Map Tiles SDK. The tour path uses a Bezier spline plugin, and the tour stops are activated by distance. We modeled the 3D assets in Blender and created textures in Photoshop, using historical photos as reference and source material. Geospatial Creator allowed us to anchor the AR experience to the historic site.
Learn more at https://devpost.com/software/sutrobath-ar-tour.
