Web and mobile
We review the latest websites and apps
Website
Sir John Soane's Museum
Nicola Sullivan finds herself floating through walls in a 3D digital tour of the venue
This website is a significant milestone in the museum’s long-running project to digitise several rooms and objects. It opens a virtual doorway into the architect John Soane’s historic house, museum and library.
It takes you in off the street and through the house to visit either the Model Room or Sepulchral Chamber, which have been recreated using a point-cloud scan. This involves using 3D scanners to measure a large number of points on an object or building’s surface to create models, animations or, in this case, visual representations of spaces.
I loved being transported to my chosen destination through the hologram-like structure of the house, passing through walls and floating up staircases. Once inside a room, you can drag the mouse left and right to explore the venue from different angles. Eye icons point out key features, such as a model of Pompeii made in 1820.
A pull-down panel gives a short explanation about the history and significance of the room.
The level of detail is astonishing and the translucent nature of the structures and unrealistic matt finish make the spaces feel like sketches. This artistic style not only adds to the richness of the experience, but also offers a new perspective on a building that I am already familiar with.
http://explore.soane.org
Website
Australian Centre for the Moving Image
It’s hardly surprising that images dominate the website of Australia’s national museum for film television, video games, digital culture and art. The images are not particularly arresting but they do complement the website’s aims to clearly illustrate what the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (Acmi) offers visitors. To this end, the three images on the homepage outline three sections – museum, cinemas and ideas – and are replicated through the site.
The museum section contains information about exhibitions. Underpinned by extensive user testing, this part of the site highlights what matters to visitors – time, date and cost. Once these basic needs are met, users can click on red arrows that provide more information about the exhibitions and artists. Further exploration is rewarded with captivating images relating to events. The cinema section follows a similar pattern, but for film.
I also liked the ideas section, where material related to Acmi themes is presented in accessible thumbnails that invite you to “watch”, “read” or “listen”. With its simple, intuitive design and smooth user journey, this website leaves you with the satisfying feeling that you haven’t missed anything. It is these features that also make it compatible with mobile devices, which is where the calendar feature comes into its own. It has been designed following user testing that revealed most people want events listed in chronological order and an easy way to move to the days they are available. Night and day filters also reduce the amount of scrolling required. NS
https://www.acmi.net.au
Online catalogue viewer
British Library
The British Library’s new viewer offers a number of benefits for researchers studying digitised items in its collections. Designed in accordance to the IIIF (International Image Interoperability Framework), which aims to increase and improve access to digital images, the viewer allows users to conduct a full text search of a digitised manuscript or book.
Users can navigate a text using thumbnail images, as well as share and bookmark items. Recognisable icons at the bottom of the page make it easy for images to be printed, downloaded, embedded and commented on. Helpful usage terms relating to the item are also included in the “about this item” panel. For example, some items can be downloaded as pdfs or embedded into blogposts, as teaching resources or news articles.
Improved zoom and rotate functions enhance the exploration of large-format items and work is being done to make the viewer more responsive on mobile devices and tablets.
The viewer will grow to encompass more collection items and eventually replace multiple legacy viewers on the British Library’s site. While the viewer will primarily be used by researchers and scholars, the ease with which they can share their finds means rare archive material is more likely to cross the path of the general public. NS
http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer
Sir John Soane's Museum
Nicola Sullivan finds herself floating through walls in a 3D digital tour of the venue
This website is a significant milestone in the museum’s long-running project to digitise several rooms and objects. It opens a virtual doorway into the architect John Soane’s historic house, museum and library.
It takes you in off the street and through the house to visit either the Model Room or Sepulchral Chamber, which have been recreated using a point-cloud scan. This involves using 3D scanners to measure a large number of points on an object or building’s surface to create models, animations or, in this case, visual representations of spaces.
I loved being transported to my chosen destination through the hologram-like structure of the house, passing through walls and floating up staircases. Once inside a room, you can drag the mouse left and right to explore the venue from different angles. Eye icons point out key features, such as a model of Pompeii made in 1820.
A pull-down panel gives a short explanation about the history and significance of the room.
The level of detail is astonishing and the translucent nature of the structures and unrealistic matt finish make the spaces feel like sketches. This artistic style not only adds to the richness of the experience, but also offers a new perspective on a building that I am already familiar with.
http://explore.soane.org
Website
Australian Centre for the Moving Image
It’s hardly surprising that images dominate the website of Australia’s national museum for film television, video games, digital culture and art. The images are not particularly arresting but they do complement the website’s aims to clearly illustrate what the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (Acmi) offers visitors. To this end, the three images on the homepage outline three sections – museum, cinemas and ideas – and are replicated through the site.
The museum section contains information about exhibitions. Underpinned by extensive user testing, this part of the site highlights what matters to visitors – time, date and cost. Once these basic needs are met, users can click on red arrows that provide more information about the exhibitions and artists. Further exploration is rewarded with captivating images relating to events. The cinema section follows a similar pattern, but for film.
I also liked the ideas section, where material related to Acmi themes is presented in accessible thumbnails that invite you to “watch”, “read” or “listen”. With its simple, intuitive design and smooth user journey, this website leaves you with the satisfying feeling that you haven’t missed anything. It is these features that also make it compatible with mobile devices, which is where the calendar feature comes into its own. It has been designed following user testing that revealed most people want events listed in chronological order and an easy way to move to the days they are available. Night and day filters also reduce the amount of scrolling required. NS
https://www.acmi.net.au
Online catalogue viewer
British Library
The British Library’s new viewer offers a number of benefits for researchers studying digitised items in its collections. Designed in accordance to the IIIF (International Image Interoperability Framework), which aims to increase and improve access to digital images, the viewer allows users to conduct a full text search of a digitised manuscript or book.
Users can navigate a text using thumbnail images, as well as share and bookmark items. Recognisable icons at the bottom of the page make it easy for images to be printed, downloaded, embedded and commented on. Helpful usage terms relating to the item are also included in the “about this item” panel. For example, some items can be downloaded as pdfs or embedded into blogposts, as teaching resources or news articles.
Improved zoom and rotate functions enhance the exploration of large-format items and work is being done to make the viewer more responsive on mobile devices and tablets.
The viewer will grow to encompass more collection items and eventually replace multiple legacy viewers on the British Library’s site. While the viewer will primarily be used by researchers and scholars, the ease with which they can share their finds means rare archive material is more likely to cross the path of the general public. NS
http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer