For Isabelle Foster, her return to the U.S. during the pandemic could have marked an end to a budding project. Yet the physical distance from her team created a new perspective that was perfect for those pulled miles apart: TavAR, an augmented reality (AR) app that brings communities closer to their roots and welcomes tourists to new places and stories.

In the first of three episodes on Voices of Exchange, we hear how Fulbright ExchangeAlumni Isabelle Foster, David Franco, and Tania Vargas are using AR to build resilience and preserve culture, and the ripple effects of their efforts.

Everyone has a story to tell. On Voices of Exchange, join us this season to hear how augmented reality can redefine a place; see American identity through non-immigrant eyes; explore climate activism in tribal nations and elsewhere; and, experience how hip-hop artist-educators are promoting multilateral relations.

Tania Vargas

I am Tania Vargas.

And, well, I met Isabelle h-, uh, in Paraguay. Um, and we worked together for a bit. And yeah. 

David Franco

So my name is David, but I go by Davo.

Um, I did, um, master at a program at University of Washington in Seattle in, uh, technology innovation. So after, uh ... That was through the Fulbright program. After that I came back to Paraguay and continued working in, in the tech area. So currently I'm working for a tech company that is in Paraguay.

Isabelle Foster

My name is Isabelle Foster. 

I grew up in the US and am from the US originally, uh, was out in California for school, and then after graduation actually went to Paraguay on a Fulbright fellowship from the US to do a research project. So I was looking at country development through innovation and entrepreneurship, and while I was in Paraguay was working on the national innovation strategy in the government,And as Tania mentioned, that was how we met each other.

Uh, part of the impetus of this was realizing that there's so much rich cultural heritage and, uh, history that has happened in a lot of the small, rural towns in Paraguay, but it's not easily accessible. Oftentimes, these stories or photos are within the community, and they're not always readily shared or publicly accessible.And particularly, uh, we had a lot of interesting conversations as, uh, you know, Tania and Davo are from Paraguay. Davo in particular is from San José de los Arroyos, which is a kind of small town outside of the capital city, and my perspective as somebody, as a visitor to Paraguay eager to learn about the history.

So through these discussions and realizing that there was kind of a mismatch of such rich history and culture, but the inability of someone like myself to be able to learn that history, um, was really a driving force to find kind of a solution that included both technology but also citizen participation to be able to document this history and make it more accessible.

Um, so don't know if Davo or Tania, if you want to add anything to that..

Tania Varga

Yeah, I like to tell about, like, the name.

Tavar comes from the conjuncture of two words. One of them is Tava. Tava comes from Guaraní, which is an indigenous, uh, language and also an official language in Paraguay. And it, uh, means home or town, and there is A-R from English, Augmented Reality. So TavAR comes from Tava and A-R.

David Franco

Yes, exactly.

So adding a little bit more to what Isa said. Uh, one of the major issues in Paraguay is that we don't have many libraries. So most of the stories or the history of towns and cities in Paraguay is that l-, they live in the, in the people who, who, uh, lives on- on- on the city, on the towns. So that's why generation after generation, most of the story is following time. So that's also one of the, of our model with this project, to- to preserve and- and share these stories to the, to the youngest population, engaging, uh, engaging them with the use of technology.

Tania Vargas

this was, uh, an opportunity we had because we applied, uh, to a grant from the U.S. Embassy and Associón Paraguay. And working with Isabelle and, and David was a motivation because, like, we are, like, young, uh, Fulbrighters, at that time meeting in Paraguay, and having this opportunity of doing something for rural communities, like bringing new technologies and working with the community. So, uh, that is something that I really like about this project.

David Franco

Exactly, and, and as a Fulbrighter, with this commitment to, to, to the, to our countries o- once we come back, to kind of, um, do something for a- show what we learned. 

And in the same way, and if in the same way, we can help people, uh, like creating this kind of project. Uh, so that was. one of our, uh, also one thing that, uh, make easier for easier for us to, to work on this.

Isabelle Foster

Absolutely. I think Davo and Tania nailed it perfectly. But kind of. One of the driving interests on my side for participating in TavAR was really helping to share that culture and history. I was excited to be part of that opportunity because I think coming from the U.S., I was very eager to learn about Paraguay, its history, and see different parts of the country, learn what that context was and how it varied outside of Asunción where I was based.

Uh, so I felt like this was a really exciting opportunity to help, uh, participate in that with Davo and, and, uh, Davo and Tania. And also just when I was in Paraguay, so many people were asking me from the U.S., "What is Paraguay like? I've never been. I'm so excited to learn more and hear about your experience there." So I think, to me, this also seemed like an opportunity to help share those stories and insights with people in the U.S. who might want to visit Paraguay in the future or previously had very little exposure to the culture of the country. So I think as Davo said, this was a cool opportunity to tie in some of the ethos and values of the Fulbright program that really drew all of us to this program, um, and was something we were excited to carry forward even after our time on the grants or, uh, scholarships.

David Franco

One of the most interesting things about this project is that the data is collected by, by the people, by the, by the community. So, uh, that kind of gives a sense of belonging to, to the project, and it's, it's interesting to, to see what, what they can, uh, afford, what they can provide, provide to the, to the project.

Isabelle Foster

Mm-Hmm (affirmative). Exactly. And just to add on to- to Davo's point, uh, we've had a lot of people interested from other parts of the country wanting to come to San José de los Arroyos, which is our pilot. So as a quick kind of context, right now we've launched our first pilot town or community in San José de los Arroyos, which is where Davo is from, kind of building off of the community connections he has with the local government, uh, with historians there to help, as Davo said, really build up that, uh, the data sources, the stories, and photos that are being shared on the app, which are collected by community members.

Isabelle Foster

And so we've actually had people from Asunción, the capital, which is over two hours away reach out to us and say, "We drove on a Saturday morning to go to San José de los Arroyos to see the stories and hear the culture." Uh, we've had people from other cities and communities say, "Can you bring this to our city? We're really excited to try to share stories of our heritage and my part of Paraguay, uh, on the app."

Tania Vargas

And there were also people, like, abroad or especially Paraguayans living abroad that contacted us, and they were wondering how they can be part of this project, how they can also learn and scan the stories and use the app, uh, to learn more about the cities. So now we are working on a new version of the app. I mean, to put this information available also on our website. So no matter where you are in the map, where you are in the world, you can also have the TavAR experience.

David Franco

Yes, so, uh, I grew up in that city, and ... (laughs) I- I didn't know that, uh, the, the park th- where I used to play when I was kid, uh, it was actually, uh-

Tania Vargas

Graveyard?

David Franco

Yes. I think it was a graveyard, so ... (laughs) So …

Tania Vargas

(Laughs) In the-

David Franco

In the past. So it was kind of interesting to me to know that now. Uh, but yeah, so that, that was, uh, that was something that I didn't know. And in the same way, other places, l- I think the park now is like, uh, a marketplace.

Tania Vargas

That's my case. And can you imagine, like, Isabelle's case, uh, if there are l-, no, like, touristic guides or information of activities that you can do in San José de los Arroyos?

And now I feel that with TavAR, we are putting the city on the map, uh, by having this attraction, uh, and Isa mentioned before, like, people from Asunción travel to San José during a week, a weekend just to, because of TavAR because they've heard of TavAR. And there are also lots of people who, who travel to the countryside during Saturday and Sunday, so this is a great opportunity, um, to, to give visibility to San José de los Arroyos and cities like San José.

David Franco

And, yes. And one important thing, th- this histories, this stories that we want to share, they are not only for locals because we, we create those stories in three languages.

Tania Vargas

Oh, yes.

David Franco

Yeah, so one, one of the, the, of the languages is Spanish. The other one is English, and we also put those stories in Guaraní, which is, uh, our native language.

Tania Vargas

Yeah, so it's very accessible, an accessible platform.

Isabelle Foster

The kind of support or interest that we've seen from other people within Paraguay has been a really exciting, um, opportunity or signal to us that this is something that has the potential to expand to other parts of the country. I think once we've built out a strong, uh, kind of case in Paraguay, seeing how it works in different communities and different parts of the country, we're hoping that we might be able to expand to other cities and towns in different parts of Latin America, uh, in neighboring countries and, and really just other parts in South America to start, I think is our initial scope or kind of intention right now.

Tania Vargas

Yes, and we also see, uh, that TavAR is a very, um, crazy, like, flexible project in the sense that we can work, like, with cities and within Paraguay or other countries. But we also see a lot of potential, for example, working with businesses. Um, in Paraguay, for example, there are, like, major industrial activities within the country, like in different areas. So we can also, uh, use TavAR to help them, like, tell their story of what they are doing, for example.

Uh, so tell the story of businesses. Uh, there are lots of, like, family business, for example, that, uh, grew w- w- with time, and-

David Franco

Local producers.

Tania Vargas

Local, local producers. So you can tell the story using augmented reality with TavAR.

David Franco

I think Fulbright, uh, the Fulbright program changed my whole career. Uh, it provides me with tools and experience that in - otherwise I think I couldn't learn. And especially in this project, I put some of the tools that I learned during my program. Uh, w-, I put in practice, and I, and I use it. Like, we did some, um, some rounds of user experience. Um, uh, and, um, and other, like, tools that I had learned doing the program. So for me, it was definitely a life changer.

David Franco

If, if I look at myself five years a- ... Well, maybe eight years ago, uh, it's like, I can't recognize that David. And, as I've said, if I have to mention one of the things that mark by life, uh, i- it's going to be the Fulbright program. So that's why we are actually involved in programs in our home country that, um, kind of promote this kind of experience.

Tania Vargas

For Me the Fulbright experience is more than what you can learn at university, is more, like, about culture. Uh, the people you get to know, uh, the friendships you form, like I have friends from all over the world thanks to the Fulbright program. And what I realize while I was in the, in the States is that I wanted to be, like, an ambassador for my country. And people, people from other countries, like, they have the same feeling, that they want to put their countries in the world, and show to the world and share with others what they are doing.

So, I, I formed this bond with other people from different cultures, from different nationalities, and I started feeling that we are all, like, the same. We all have, like, dreams and goals and that we can cooperate and work together, uh, to achieve our dreams and our goals.

Isabelle Foster

I don't think I can say it better than Davo or Tania. 

But.,I think similarly, um, the Fulbright was a really transformational experience for me. Having grown up in the U.S. and living in the United States, I think I was really eager to go to a different part of the world and get a different experience and a different geography. And so the Fulbright program was definitely an unparalleled opportunity to do that, to really be immersed in a different country, a different culture, try to understand kind of the culture, the nuance, the people, the heritage, um, something that you can't do when you're just traveling somewhere for a few weeks. It really requires deep immersion, and so I think that was something that I was able to get through the Fulbright experience. 

Um, even though unfortunately my Fulbright was cut short due to the pandemic. I was there for about half of my grant, which was just truly such a phenomenal experience, um, and something that I'm even more grateful for, having, you know, seen the inability that we all have currently to travel. 

As you know, a lot of the world shut down and closed their borders, I think Paraguay and my experience there, if anything, taught me the importance of still being connected, um, having that open communication stream, working together and collaborating. So being able to continue remotely working with Davo and Tania, even though we weren't in the same place anymore, I think was kind of a symbolic, um, kind of gesture or, uh, activity that really showed the importance of international relationships, uh, and the power that they have too.