Talk to Rosa Parks. Hear Her Story in Her Own Voice.

The Rosa Parks Museum at Troy University sits on one of the most significant pieces of ground in American history: the exact spot in Montgomery, Alabama where Rosa Parks was arrested on December 1, 1955. The museum draws visitors from across the country and around the world, including large numbers of school children on field trips who come to learn about the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the early Civil Rights Movement.

But the experience had a problem that many museums face: the content was text-heavy and largely static. The second floor of the Children’s Wing — the section most frequently visited by students — offered rich historical information about Rosa Parks, the foot soldiers of the boycott, and the strategies that made it successful, but in a format that struggled to hold the attention of young visitors. A pen-and-paper scavenger hunt had helped, but the museum knew the space could do more.

The museum also served a growing international audience. Visitors from Italy, France, Germany, and beyond. The museum had no way to serve them in their own language. As Director of Operations Donna Beisel put it: “Our goal is to engage all visitors, but especially students on an emotional level — to help them understand the bravery it took for ordinary people to stand up in the face of overt intimidation and violence.”

QuantumERA developed the Rosa Parks: Tired of Giving In mobile app. This free AR mobile app that transforms the museum visit into a personal encounter with history. The experience begins in the lobby where a 3D representation of Rosa Parks appears on the visitor’s device  and welcomes them to the museum.

QuantumERA partnered with Kevuru Games, whose credits include Fortnite and Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge, to build a meticulous 3D model of Rosa Parks’ likeness, developed using historical data from the museum and direct input from the Parks family to ensure every detail was accurate and respectful.

To give Rosa a voice, QuantumERA used ElevenLabs voice cloning technology, trained on audio references from Rosa Parks’ televised interviews, to recreate her unique speech patterns and tone. And to make her speak dynamically, QuantumERA collaborated with Charisma.ai to power the conversation engine, allowing visitors to ask Rosa questions and receive contextually grounded, historically accurate responses about her childhood, her activism, and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

The app also includes two distinct scavenger hunt experiences. In the Main Wing, visitors move through the exhibit unlocking AR content at each station. In the Children’s Wing, a dedicated interactive timeline activity invites visitors to match historical figures and events to their correct dates. Correct answers unlock a mini-game where users tune a virtual radio dial to find a 1955 news broadcast putting them inside the moment the boycott broke into public consciousness.

Conversational AI with Rosa Parks

Visitors hold real one-on-one conversations with a 3D Rosa Parks, voiced using ElevenLabs AI voice cloning trained on her actual recordings

Realistic 3D Modeling & Rigging

Rosa’s appearance developed with input from the Parks family, ensuring historical accuracy and respectful representation

Charisma.ai Dialogue Engine

Dynamic conversation trees built on scripts developed with the museum, covering Rosa’s life, the boycott, and the broader Civil Rights Movement

Interactive Scavenger Hunts

Separate experiences for the Main Wing and Children’s Wing, each designed for their respective audiences

Children’s Wing Timeline Activity

Interactive matching game with a hidden 1955 radio broadcast mini-game for correct answers

“Creating experiences that engage students through interactive augmented reality learning activities will help younger generations understand the bravery it took for ordinary people to stand up in the face of overt intimidation and violence.”

— Donna Beisel, Director of Operations, Rosa Parks Museum

Funded by a $50,000 IMLS Inspire! Grant for Small Museums, the project represents one of the most technically ambitious interpretive experiences ever built for a civil rights institution. The museum staff and the Parks family both praised QuantumERA’s collaborative process and the result.