Making Freedom Fly: Aviation in the Preservation of Democracy
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum — Hamilton, Ontario
Concept Development, Creative Direction, Production and Installation by Parallel World Labs
By leveraging cutting edge technologies combined with compelling storytelling, PWLabs worked with the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum to develop and realize a series of four, state-of-the-art digital experiences; audiences will leave the museum feeling empowered with knowledge and inspired to reflect on what they have learned. Through these highly interactive digital exhibits, the museum has the potential to engage visitors and educate them on the important role Canadian aviation has played in the preservation of democratic values. The PWLabs team explored a wide range of digital possibilities, but felt that these four, distinct, experiences, unified by a theme of aviation and democracy, would provide the CWHM with a meaningful new offering for a multigenerational audience.
Immersive Dome
The Immersive Dome is a dynamic interactive experience highlighting the exhibition theme Making Freedom Fly. As you enter the Dome there are six sets of keywords projected on the floor; these reflect the narrative theme for each of the screens suspended around the room. Visitors can walk into the circles with the projected keywords to bring each screen to life. On these screens is a composition made up of six individual cinematic montages at 4K resolution. The montages were created using clips from the Museum’s archive of historic films made during and about the Second World War period. Each montage has been colourized and tells a meaningful visual story derived from the keyword pairings. When viewed together, the six screens create a narrative that represents the historic activities and commitments individuals made to preserve the freedoms we enjoy today.
Keywords:
Valour & Bravery , Humanity & Equality, Leadership & Inspiration, Pride & Purpose, Perseverance & Protection, Heroism & Honour.
Portrait Portals
The six Portrait Portals are an interactive storytelling experience providing an intimate connection to real Canadians who made significant contributions and sacrifices overseas and on the homefront during World War II and aided in the preservation of democracy.
Each individual’s story is based on archival records stored in the museum's collection and their stories are told through a recreated virtual avatar representing what they would have looked like during the 1940’s. These 3D Meta Human avatars appear life-size in the Portal environment on large, 86 inch, 4K screens. Each Portal can hold several narrative portraits (Meta Humans) and these can be changed, as needed, to tell different stories. Using an innovative Speech Recognition System, visitors can interact with each Meta Human and ask them questions. The conversation is guided by keywords that lead the user through various parts of their story.
Parallel World Labs combined Unreal Engine’s Meta Human Creator, motion capture technology, AI driven audio tools, and an innovative approach to voice activation to create life-size, interactive avatars based on real people who served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during WWII. Visitors to the museum can learn about their incredible stories by interacting with each character in real time.
Click on the image to view an interactive version of this model in Sketchfab.
Each Meta Human has a set of virtual artifacts. The unique artifacts embedded in the Portrait Portals have been digitized from the museum's collection using a combination of photogrammetry and traditional museum digitization techniques.
HD Cinema
The HD interactive Cinema brings the museum's historic film collection to life. Users can create and view a personalized playlist of digitized historic Canadian military films. On an interactive touchscreen users select up to 3 film clips to watch from various themes related to the narratives found in both the Dome and the Portals. As an accessibility feature, closed captions can be selected in either French or English. A countdown begins and visitors are directed to take their seat in the Cinema in front of the viewing screen. While one user watches their curated film clips, another can make a selection and add their films to the queue.
Augmented Reality
In this web-based Augmented Reality (AR) experience, visitors can open an app, scan a target with their mobile device and see and interact with either a 3D model of the museum’s iconic Lancaster aircraft. By hovering over and activating the Learning Zones, users can learn more about the history of the aircraft and its importance to the museum through additional interpretive media content. A prompt to explore the interior of the aircraft takes the user into a 3D environment of the cockpit as it looked during wartime. A unique selfie feature allows users to take or upload a photo and, using an AI filter, historic imagery, and face swap technology, transform themselves into a member of the Lancaster crew.
Click on the image to view an interactive version of this model in Sketchfab.
The 3D model of the museum’s Lancaster aircraft was created using an advanced 3D scanning/modeling device and software, retopologized and scaled down.
Core Project Team
Stacey Spiegel, Ingrid Forster, Tom Auger, Paul Brogren, Matt Goldblatt, Kasper van der Horst, Finn Stevenhagen, Juris Zebnickis, Christopher Quine, Peter Lalonde, George Ferguson, Kent Aggus.
Augmented Reality App
Creative concept and visual design by PWLabs and app programming and development by Andrew Spearin and Drew Edgar (Sharp End Studios).
Additional Project Contributors
Karen Strobel, Rebecca Zeidenberg, Kris Holland, Jessica Costello-Murray, James JR Gordon, Cameron Baer, Sabrina Engelbert.
PWLabs would like to thank the Marchivum, Mannheim, Germany, for their support.