Connecting the World through Culture and Story: Oni Buchanan ’93MA Launches a Living Cultural Atlas

Alumna Oni Buchanan ’93MA has taken her storytelling talents to a whole new level since her time at Moravian Academy, expanding the real world into dynamic, explorable layers of history, narrative, and shared experience unbound by time and space. 

As Founder and CEO of ImmerSphere, Oni is at the forefront of digital innovation, leading a platform that harnesses the power of Augmented Reality (AR) to bring places and their stories to life. ImmerSphere serves as a new kind of tourism infrastructure, enabling destinations to transform physical spaces into immersive, interactive experiences that inspire exploration, deepen engagement, and generate meaningful local economic impact. Whether visitors are on-site or halfway around the world, they can connect to a place in entirely new ways. 

Early adopters of the platform include cities, states, Indigenous communities, cultural trails, historical societies, museums, performing arts centers, festivals, libraries, and more. Now, through Oni’s vision, Moravian Academy will launch its own “living atlas”—a collection of stories that begin right here in Bethlehem.

 

Last fall, Oni returned to campus during Alumni Reunion Weekend to capture the stories of fellow alumni, current students, faculty, and Head of School Adrianne Finley Odell. Equipped with a GoPro camera, Oni also created immersive, 360-degree “Spheres” of Moravian—digital environments designed to house and share these stories. 

Beginning May 19th, we will release two new Moravian Spheres each week, each featuring a storyteller reflecting on their Moravian experience. When you enter the Moravian Spheres within the app, you aren’t just looking at a photo; you are transported back to campus. You can explore the grounds, take in the sights, and hear the familiar sounds of school life as if you were standing here in Bethlehem.

 

The roots of ImmerSphere are deeply intertwined with a lifelong friendship formed at Moravian Academy. Oni’s production advisor is fellow alumna Myna Joseph ’93MA—Moravian class president, co-founder of Summerbridge at Moravian, and today an award-winning film director and producer. Myna and her mother and sister also joined ImmerSphere as early “friends and family” investors, supporting the company during its most formative and high-risk stage. As a family of business leaders and creative visionaries themselves, they recognized in Oni the same fearlessness, tenacity, ingenuity, and bold creative spirit that defined her even in their high school days. 

Peers supporting one another in pursuit of ambitious goals reflects the very spirit of Moravian Academy—an institution founded by two pioneering women, and dedicated over generations to cultivating the perennial core values of leadership, character, discipline, service, dignity, and boundless curiosity. 

Start today by downloading the ImmerSphere app (App Store or Google Play) and scan the QR code below to experience Adrianne Finley Odell welcoming you to the Moravian collection featuring alumni and current students. Stay tuned for the launch of more Moravian Spheres, beginning May 19—and experience Moravian Academy like never before.