This project focuses on exploring the legacy of John Ruskin by utilising Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to provide a unique platform to display and explore his works. The Ruskin showcased interactive Augmented-Reality and Virtual-Reality experiences at Windermere Science Festival (10-11 May 2025), a festival delivering engaging science from cutting-edge research for families and the public. Ruskin is recognised as one of the earliest thinkers to observe the impact of human activities upon a changing climate. Using Augmented Reality and individual VR headsets, visitors explored Ruskin’s works and ideas in relation to nature and the environment as never before.

The Ruskin showcased Augmented-Reality experiences, such as an interactive cyanometer on an iPad to identify and measure the colour blue in skies. The Ruskin also exhibited a range of AR experiences using iPads with specially designed postcards displaying related works from The Collection. Each postcard displayed one work from The Collection with a QR code linking it to a related photographic image from today. Presenting works from The Collection through the immersive experiences of AR and VR highlights the ongoing relevance of Ruskin’s ideas – from education to environmentalism – to the challenges of today’s modern world.

The exhibit builds upon The Ruskin’s recent development of digital innovative technologies to find new ways of engaging audiences.