Join Dr. Jean-René Leblanc at TELUS Spark's Space Cowboys

The Energy Stories Lab is pleased to share that Dr. Jean-René Leblanc, Professor of Visual Research and Digital Storytelling at the University of Calgary and Co-Director of the Energy Stories Lab, will be participating in TELUS Spark's Space Cowboys event, where he will present his award-winning Real-Life Cowboy augmented reality experience.

Real-Life Cowboy is a research-creation project that explores the evolving culture of ranching in southern Alberta through photography, oral histories, sound, and augmented reality. By combining documentary practice with immersive digital storytelling, the project invites audiences to engage directly with the voices, memories, and lived experiences of Alberta ranchers. Visitors can use their smartphones to unlock hidden stories embedded within photographic portraits, revealing the rich relationships between people, place, and the landscapes they call home.

The project demonstrates how emerging technologies such as augmented reality can extend ethnographic research beyond traditional academic formats, creating new opportunities for public engagement with community knowledge and cultural heritage.

If you are attending Space Cowboys, be sure to stop by, experience Real-Life Cowboy, and learn more about how creative research and digital storytelling are transforming the ways we document and share the stories of Alberta's rural communities.