We’re excited to see artist Alli Koch of Alli K Design exploring XR in her mural work, especially how she’s using a VR headset to help take a digital design onto a physical wall. For Alli, the value starts with something practical: making the setup and sketching process more efficient, with more flexibility in when she works and how she collaborates.
We’ve already worked with Alli to add augmented reality to her artwork at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden. Her use of VR offers another perspective on where immersive technology can fit into an artist’s practice, this time while the mural is being made.
From a Projector to a Virtual Stencil
We caught up with Alli K to talk about how she’s using VR in her mural work. When we asked what inspired her to explore these tools, she pointed to the time spent preparing a wall for painting. “I am always looking for tools to make painting/my work more efficient! Being able to sketch the design at any time vs. only at night with my projector was a game changer!”
So far, Alli has successfully split a large wall into two sections, creating her own buddy system for sketching alongside another person. She loves the time this approach saves and the ability to share the work of preparing a mural.
The process gives her more flexibility than the nighttime projector setup she describes. VR helps with transferring the design, while the artists bring the outline to life through the physical work of painting.
More Efficient Setup, the Same Creative Vision
When we asked how the technology had influenced her creative process, Alli made an important distinction: “I don’t think it’s influenced; rather than made it more efficient. It’s easier to set up my project for success!”
That distinction is central to how we think about creative tools. In Alli’s workflow, VR supports the preparation behind the painting. Her choices about composition, color, and the finished work remain hers. We see technology as a tool in the artist’s hands. A digital guide does not replace the physical artwork or the skill required to make it. It gives the artist another way to approach the work, just as the projector served a role in Alli’s process before it.
Making Room for Collaboration
Alli is also exploring how these tools can support more than one person working on a mural. Her approach of measuring the wall and dividing the design provides a practical starting point for that collaboration. She points to a buddy system feature that allows two people to sketch the mural design at the same time:
“The VR is rapidly growing, and I’m constantly working with app creators to make it even better! There is a new buddy system feature to allow two people to sketch the mural design at the same time!”
She is sharing feedback with app creators as the tools develop. For artists working together, the opportunity is to make digital guidance part of a shared, hands-on process. The collaboration still happens at the wall, with people drawing and painting together.
Bringing the Finished Artwork Into AR
Our collaboration with Alli at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden explored how technology could extend the experience of a finished mural.
For Blooming Pathway, Groove Jones developed an AR experience around her artwork in the garden’s tunnel. Visitors scanned a QR code to unlock animated monarch butterflies that fluttered through the space alongside them. The butterflies drew directly from elements of the mural, connecting the digital experience to the painted artwork.
Sound design and built-in photo and video capture added ways for visitors to experience and share the installation. The physical mural remained the foundation, with AR adding movement and another way to engage with it.
Explore our collaboration with Alli K at the Dallas Arboretum.
An Artist’s Advice: Try the Tools
For other artists curious about bringing VR or AR into their practice, Alli’s advice comes back to the practical benefit she’s experienced:
“It’s worth the time and investment with the amount of time it saves you!! Also, it’s a pretty cool party trick and conversation starter!”
What excites us about Alli’s approach is that the artwork remains at the center. VR helps her prepare to paint, and AR has given visitors another way to experience her finished work. In both cases, the technology serves the artist’s vision and the physical art she creates.
