GOOGLE KICKS OFF BLACK HISTORY MONTH WITH 3D INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE AT THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICA
On Friday, February 2nd, Google unveils a new interactive installation at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The installation - constructed by a team of engineers through our Black Googler Network - follows a $1M Google.org donation dedicated in 2016 to commemorate the museum's initial opening.
Google is donating a 3-D installation to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which will redefine how people are able to interact the the museum's rarest artifacts
In 2016, Google.org donated $1M to the NMAAHC in an effort to support its mission to expand access to important historical artifacts to the nation.
The engineering team responsible for coding the project did so in their spare time - each has a unique role within Google unrelated to this particular project. More information on each of them here.
Visitors will now be able to interact with a range of rare artifacts, including a tin of Madame C.J. Walker’s wonderful hair grower, three-inch platform boots that once performed on Broadway, and a cast of a piano-player’s left hand.
Here’s Travis’s original blog post, which talks about his interaction with Dr. Bunch.
“A few years ago, Dr. Lonnie Bunch, the NMAAHC’s director, came to Google’s headquarters and shared his vision to make the museum the most technologically advanced in the world. I immediately knew I wanted to be involved, and pulled together people from across the company: designers who focus on user interaction, members of the Cultural Institute, engineers who work on everything from Google Maps to YouTube, and members of the Black Googler Network. For the past year, we’ve been working to deliver on Dr. Bunch’s vision.
Our team quickly learned that museums are often only able to showcase a fraction of their content and archives to visitors. So we asked ourselves: what technology do we have at Google that could help enrich the museum experience? We worked closely with the museum to build an interactive exhibit to house artifacts from decades of African American history and let visitors explore and learn about them. With 3D scanning, 360 video, multiple screens and other technologies, visitors can see artifacts like a powder horn or handmade dish from all angles by rotating them with a mobile device. The interactive exhibit will open in spring 2017.”
