Page 54 - San Diego Woman Magazine our POWER WOMEN

Power Women

DANA DURAN who then handles the techni-

cal aspects.”
Visiting extraordinary cul-
tural institutions is a key (and
By Judith A. Habert really cool) part of her job--re-
Photos Courtesy of Dana Duran cently, she made a trip to New
York to the 911 museum. “It
was an incredible experience.
In honor of our Power since their inception. I started real physical world in which el- The museum is so well done.
Women issue, I wanted to ex- as a copywriter. I create audio ements are enhanced by digital It is an enormous space under
amine what Power looks like in tours, using a modern voice input (think Pokemon Go). So the plaza. It contains the
the technology sector. It looks and themes to produce entire how does augmented reality Ladder 3 fire truck, the Last
like Dana Duran, Director of tours. We create augmented work? Dana explained, “With Column from ground zero is
Content at innovative culture, reality experiences that are augmented reality, you use there, along with a beautiful
arts, and tech company, Guru. educational.” your phone to point at a trig- wall made of tiles that an artist
Dana works for an amazing Now, as Director of Con- ger item. For instance, the item created. There are all types
company called Guru--they tent, Dana often travels to can be a poster or a painting of artifacts including signs
specialize in creating mobile locations across the country or any sort of image or object. that people had made about
tour apps for museums, gar- so she can create audio and Then, augmented reality puts a
augmented reality experienc- digital layer into the real space.
es for a particular museum or That means there's something
exhibit. This is usually as part digital that's being overlaid on
of an entire proprietary app top of the real world. For ex-
for the institution for which ample, we just created a moon
her company is working. She experience where visitors point
then works with the tech their phones at a large image
and creative teams to build a of the moon on the wall, and
mobile tour that visitors can then suddenly the moon is in
download onto their phones 3D in front of them. They can
to experience and learn about spin it and tap on it to learn
that museum in a new and about various Apollo missions
innovative way. But you don’t and about moon rocks that are
need to hop on a plane to in the same exhibition to see their loved ones that were
see Dana’s creative vision in where they were found on the missing and recordings from
action. San Diego Museum moon.” that horrible day. There are
of Art’s mobile tour app is Dana is involved in the voicemails and news footage
powered by Guru! Visitors can entire process from the initial as well. It is something every-
enjoy their time at the muse- steps to completion of the one should see. I am lucky to
um and learn in a whole new app. “So what I do is I figure have a job that allows me the
way through the SDMA app. out what the audio tour will opportunity to visit some of
The app provides audio tours, be like and then what infor- the greatest cultural exhibits
augmented reality experienc- mation will be shared with in the country.”
es of the art, event schedules, the visitors. I have a writer With such a unique career
and entertainment, making who works with me, she's I was curious if this was her
the visit more interactive and called a storyteller, and she plan when starting college.
engaging. and I work together to write “My bachelor’s degree was
I may not be totally up to the scripts that a voiceover in communications with an
date with technology, but after artist will read, and visitors emphasis on advertising. I had
speaking to Dana Duran for the will listen to as they're having a minor in sociology. My goal
dens, zoos and other cultural first few minutes of our conver- this experience. We ideate was to be a copywriter in an
institutions. Guru helps muse- sation, I must admit, I felt a bit the experience, and then ad agency.
ums and cultural institutions archaic. Especially since Guru is we write the scripts for the “When I came out of
use technology as an educa- a pioneer in using augmented experience. Once the content school, we were in the midst
tional and engagement tool to reality as an educational re- creation process is complete, of a recession, so I stayed at
bring exhibitions to life. And source. If you have never heard then it gets handed off to the my school job at Costco a bit
Dana has been there since day of augmented reality, here are augmented reality team and longer and decided to go to
one. "I have been with Guru the cliff notes: it is a view of the then the platform manager grad school. I earned a Mas-

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