philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Holocaust Museum L.A. launches new augmented-reality app with an assist from Hollywood

...

The oldest Holocaust museum in the U.S., Holocaust Museum L.A. has teamed up with the technology studio Magnopus, led by visual effects artists Craig Barron and Ben Grossmann — who earned Oscars for 2008's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and 2011's "Hugo," respectively — to create a new educational app that uses augmented reality to bring Sobibor to virtual life.

The Sobibor AR exhibit, available for free download in Apple's app store, allows users to interact with a 3D model of Sobibor, with actor Ben Feldman serving as a holographic guide providing historical context and encouraging deeper exploration of the camp's layout and daily life. The app centers on the story of Polish survivor Thomas Blatt, who escaped from Sobibor during a famous 1943 uprising and created a detailed map from memory, including key locations such as the barracks, guard towers, gas chambers and mass graves. ...

The museum, which was founded in 1961 by a group of Holocaust survivors, houses a physical model of Sobibor based on Blatt's map. But Davids, who frequently speaks to young people about what happened to his family and the millions of other victims of the Holocaust, says the app allows for a more immersive experience. ...

For Holocaust Museum L.A., which is currently closed as it undergoes an expansion that will double its footprint in Pan Pacific Park, the app offers a way to continue its mission at a time of rising antisemitism fueled by ongoing conflict over the war in Gaza. ...

Magnopus is exploring other ways it can collaborate with the museum on cutting-edge educational tools, including an app in which users would enter the pages of a Nazi children's propaganda book to learn about how German youth were indoctrinated with antisemitism. ...

See the full story here: https://www.yahoo.com/news/holocaust-museum-l-launches-augmented-100039190.html