Iona University Students Propose that Peekskill Leverage Augmented Reality to Promote Public Art and Tourism
The Iona-Peekskill City Labs collaboration is part of the Business Council of Westchester’s Westchester Innovation Network (WIN) initiative
New Rochelle, N.Y. (December 2023) – Tasked with the question of how the City of Peekskill could leverage its public art for tourism and economic growth, students in Iona University’s Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation recently presented their recommendations after a semester of investigation.
Top on their list, the students recommended that Peekskill partner with the Westchester Community College Center for the Arts to bring augmented reality and gaming capabilities to the Discover Peekskill app. WCC has a campus in the heart of downtown Peekskill.
Augmented reality is a smartphone-based interactive experience that enhances the real-world with computer-generated perceptual information like animations, graphics and sound.
The proposed gaming elements on the Discover Peekskill app would allow users to build points for each public art site visited. The collected points would then allow users to unlock discounts or free items at participating local businesses.
“Some of our research brought us to Overlyapp.com, an open-source, no-code, augmented-reality platform that students at WCC would be able to manage without a computer science degree,” said Rob Kissner, GaelVentures program manager at the Hynes Institute, who oversaw the students’ work. “We’re in a technology renaissance that makes redesigns of the Peekskill app more accessible versus before when you might have had to write a check for $40,000 to an app development company.”
The students in Iona’s Introduction to Ideation and Design Thinking class also suggested drone-art events; a sculpture path from the riverfront to downtown; and an app-based shuttle service that can move people from the train station to downtown like New Rochelle’s CircuitNR.
The students presented their ideas after spending six weeks studying how Peekskill can modernize public art with technology; engage new audiences, businesses, and residents; improve travel from the riverfront to downtown; and attract more visitors.
Peekskill’s economic development specialist, Matthew D. Rudikoff, praised the students’ ideas and he suggested that they should formulate next steps that Peekskill should take to implement some of the ideas. “How do you put it in action? That may be a follow-up in terms of what do you do as a local government person?” said Rudikoff.
The Iona-Peekskill City Labs collaboration is part of the Business Council of Westchester’s Westchester Innovation Network (WIN)-related efforts to propel innovation as the underpinning for the future economic growth of Westchester. WIN’s City Labs spotlights a host community and teams that municipality with individuals focused on identifying projects to assist in delivering immediate economic benefit to that community and its residents through innovation.
Business Council of Westchester President and CEO Marsha Gordon called the students’ presentation thoughtful and professional.
“You’ve really taken the strong basis that’s (in Discover Peekskill) and built upon it and shown how it can be improved,” Gordon told the students. “It may be a question of getting funding to hire student interns to bring this to the next step and then be able to hand it off to WCC.”
The WIN program and Iona University will continue to work with a different Westchester municipality each semester and the program is currently seeking a new municipality to partner with for the fall semester. Municipalities interested in partnering with WIN should contact the Business Council of Westchester.
ABOUT IONA
Founded in 1940, Iona University is a master's-granting private, Catholic, coeducational institution of learning in the tradition of the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers. Iona's 45-acre New Rochelle campus and 28-acre Bronxville campus are just 20 miles north of Midtown Manhattan. With a total enrollment of nearly 4,000 students and an alumni base of more than 50,000 around the world, Iona is a diverse community of learners and scholars dedicated to academic excellence and the values of justice, peace and service. Iona is highly accredited, offering undergraduate degrees in liberal arts, science and business administration, as well as Master of Arts, Master of Science and Master of Business Administration degrees and numerous advanced certificate programs. Iona students enjoy small class sizes, engaged professors and a wide array of academic programs across the School of Arts & Science; LaPenta School of Business; NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences; and Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Iona is widely recognized in prestigious rankings, including The Princeton Review’s 2024 national list of “The Best 389 Colleges” and The Wall Street Journal/College Pulse’s “2024 Best Colleges in America,” which ranked Iona at #66 in the nation overall and #8 in the nation among Catholic schools. Iona’s LaPenta School of Business is also accredited by AACSB International, a recognition awarded to just six percent of business schools worldwide. In addition, The Princeton Review recognized Iona’s on-campus MBA program as a “Best Business School for 2023.” Iona also offers a fully online MBA program for even greater flexibility. In July 2021, Iona announced the establishment of the NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences, which is now principally located on Iona’s Bronxville campus in collaboration with NewYork-Presbyterian. Connecting to its Irish heritage, the University also recently announced it is expanding abroad with a new campus in County Mayo, Ireland. A school on the rise, Iona officially changed its status from College to University on July 1, 2022, reflecting the growth of its academic programs and the prestige of an Iona education.