Page 236 - AC/E's Digital Culture Annual Report 2015

AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report 2015236photographs, fragments of documentaries and even hidden animation.43These are just a few examples of what, in a sense, was a pioneering use of screens in museums, apart from the usual informative use generally found in many exhibitions. They date from the beginning of the twenty-first century. Since then, the use of interactive screens has evolved considerably, though the approach is often very similar to the above cases.An interesting present-day example is the Espacio Fundación Telefónica (Madrid), which has developed a tool called Cultural Surface.45It allows users to explore the foundation’s collection of more than 1,000 works through semantic and even sensory browsing. For this purpose the works that make up the collection were catalogued and labelled, and visitors can now access the digitised holdings of the works and objects that make up the artistic, historical and technological heritage of the Fundación Telefónica.The method consists of several touchscreens through which users can filter their searches and establish links between the pieces. The resultsof their selection can be viewed on another monitor.The screens also include interactive gamesthat use sensors to explore the foundation’s sculptures, as well as to examine the collection of portraits through facial recognition software (a technology we will deal with further on) that recognises our features and relates them to a series of sculptures. Another function invites visitors to browse and find a digital interpreta- tion of the artworks they like the most based on proximity.Interactive timeline, Churchill MuseumDavid Small44 is a specialist in mounting exhibi- tions based on all kinds of screens. Prominent among his many projects is his Illuminated Manuscript created for the Documenta 11 exhibition (2002) in Kassel (Germany). This manuscript consists of a book with blank pages on a bookrest onto which the text was projected from above. Visitors could thus turn the pages as well as combine and manipulate the text on each page. A later version of this illuminated manu- script was produced for the permanent exhibi- tion of the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo, Norway, when it opened in 2004.Focus 2015. Museums and New Technologies