If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.
You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!
The Imperial War Museum (IWM) opened the Winston Churchill Museum as an addition to their Cabinet War Rooms in 2005. The centerpiece of the Winston Churchill Museum is the Churchill "Lifeline" Table, which is 50 feet long and represents almost a decade of history, including over 6,000 documents, photos and personal correspondence. Almost every letter ever written to or by Winston Churchill is made available. The surface can be navigated by touch strips, which allow up to 26 users to explore the surface at one time. The surface is laid out in chronological order giving visitors the chance to follow the events of Churchill's life and national history as they unfold.
The Lifeline is projected on to the table surface, which can also be used as a continuous 50-foot screen to show movies and film clips from Churchill's lifetime. 180 "Easter Eggs" are hidden throughout the Lifeline that correspond to the dates of major world events. For example, if a visitor selects April 12, 1961, the day Yuri Garagin became the first man in space, an image of his space capsule floats across the entire table surface.
Secondary review/critique:
I have heard about the Lifeline table several times since it was created, but have never had the chance to use it or to visit the Winston Churchill Museum. This surface appears to be an incredible resource for those interested in exploring Winston Churchill's life in-depth, as well as a fun introduction for casual visitors to his extraordinary life. The amount of primary source material they have made available is impressive, and it seems like almost every day of Churchill's life is accounted for (especially during WWII.) They also achieve a wider sense of context by tying in world events, especially with their creative use of Easter Eggs on significant dates.
Having 26 visitors able to explore a 50-foot table at the same time is no small feat for the developers and that number probably limits crowding around the surface. However, I suspect a lot of bottlenecking occurs, as most people will want to start at the beginning and work their way through chronologically. I also have to wonder what the noise level is like when so many users are at the table (you get a sense of it in the video above.) Audio is part the experience as well, every "page turn" has a sound and many of the dates on the table have corresponding audio. The cacophony of that combined with general gallery noise could be overwhelming. I also wonder if the Easter Eggs are distracting. It might be a cool reward for the person who hit upon the Egg, but the fact that the found image/sound/video projects over the entire table might be confusing for those who don't see the context of the reward and distracting to those who are attempting more in-depth exploration of the surface.
Technologies incorporated:
Projection, touch strips, responsive audio and video animation.
Internally or externally produced: Project was produced by Small Design Firm Inc. in conjunction with Casson Mann, UNA Design, and Electrosonic. Surface content was produced by the Imperial War Museum.
Entry Contributor and Date: Krista Menacher :: 4/9/2011
Related projects: None.
Imperial War Museum - "Lifeline" Interactive Surface
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.