RISD Students Showing Futuristic Newport Pell Bridge With VR

NEWPORT, RI — Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Students created a futuristic version of the Newport Pell Bridge in virtual reality that the community is invited to check out.

The interactive installation of the 2.1-mile-long bridge connecting Newport and Jamestown will be open to the public at the Old Colony House on Newport’s Washington Square on Saturday and Sunday. The installation is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday.

Students studying exhibition design in RISD’s Interior Architecture program used state-of-the-art technology to bring to life the designs developed in the Crossing the Pell studio. Visitors will pedal through four student design concepts on stationary bikes that respond to the riders’ movements, while a VR headset shows a bridge transformed with pedestrians in mind.

Eight graduate students developed visions for adding a suspended lower level to the bridge that would allow for pedestrians and cyclists as well as arts venues, parks, cafes and even a floating fish market.

"Proposing change to an icon like the Pell Bridge is difficult,” Professor Liliane Wong said. "Our goal was to help acclimate the public to something new using virtual reality to create an immersive 3D experience."

The exhibit is free and open to the public, but guests were advised to sign up for a time to visit beforehand.